South Korean Imports Of U.S. DDGS Set A Record For Fourth Consecutive Year

Using Market Access Funds (MAP) to promote U.S. DDGS, the U.S. Grains Council’s efforts in South Korea have resulted in four consecutive years of growth in DDGS imports. In MY 2016/2017, South Korea imported a record 979,278 metric tons of U.S. DDGS valued at $175 million, up from 156,730 metric tons over the previous year.

The major obstacle to the expansion of DDGS imports into South Korea has been the lack of confidence in using the product in animal feeds and misunderstandings about the nutritional and economic benefits that it provides feed millers. The Council’s promotion programs in Korea in the past four years have focused on addressing these concerns and getting feed millers to feel more confident about increasing inclusion rates. Today, approximately 97 percent of Korean feed companies are using DDGS.

Furthermore, the Council strengthened onsite one-on-one consulting programs by U.S. DDGS and animal nutrition experts for individual feed millers to increase DDGS inclusion rates. As a result, the inclusion rate has gone up dramatically from 2.1 percent on average in 2013 to 5.0 percent on average in 2017.

The Council invested $40,000 of MAP funds in 2017 in support of its DDGS promotion efforts, generating an increase in sales of 156,730 metric tons valued at $28 million. This nets a return on investment (ROI) of $700 per $1 of MAP funds invested.