BICSA Financial Center
Ave. Balboa y Aquilino de la Guardia
32nd floor, Office # 3201
Panama City, Panama
Phone: +507-315-1008
The U.S. Grains Council’s regional office in Panama oversees Latin America and the Caribbean, with the exception of Mexico. Founded in 2010, this office is instrumental in promoting the full complement of U.S. grains and co-products, including ethanol.
In the 2018/19 corn marketing year, Latin America proved once again to be an important customer for U.S. grain exports. As global trade contracted and U.S. corn exports declined, Latin America accounted for 24 percent of the total trade volume, a slight increase from the previous year. Colombia, Peru, and Guatemala finished in the top 10 U.S. corn export destinations, while the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Panama, Honduras, Venezuela, and Nicaragua all finished in the top 20.
Proximity and current trade agreements contribute significantly to the reliability of this export destination. In the region, the United States enjoys ten formal trade agreements, providing 94 percent of the total $2.13 billion in regional U.S. corn sales.
In the 2018/19 marketing year, Latin America accounted for 34 percent of the total exported U.S. ethanol for fuel and industrial use, with Brazil being the dominant importer. Brazil along takes 25 percent of the total U.S. exported product. The other main importers in the region include Colombia, Peru, and Jamaica. U.S. Grains Council efforts related to ethanol can be broken into two main categories, maintaining and defending existing markets and the uncovering and opening of new markets for our product.
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