Using Market Access Program (MAP) funds, the Council sponsored a Saudi Arabian trade team to the Council’s biannual trade show, Export Exchange 2014. As a result of their participation in Export Exchange 2014 and post conference travel to Wisconsin and Illinois to visit grain producers and exporters, the Saudi team members purchased roughly 16,000 metric tons of U.S. Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS) valued at $4.3 million. The Council invested $85,000 of MAP funds in support of this program generating a Return on Investment (ROI) of $50.45 per every $1 of MAP funding invested.
The Council has been engaged in promoting U.S. DDGS for a number of years in Saudi Arabia. In 2011, the U.S. Grains Council successfully achieved the inclusion of DDGS, corn gluten feed (CGF) and other U.S. commodities on the Saudi Arabian import subsidy list. Inclusion on this import subsidy list is essential in eliciting interest from Saudi importers of these products, as the subsidy list determines which feed ingredients are imported and used; the subsidies ultimately reduces the feed ingredient costs to the end-user.
In 2012, U.S. exporters started to benefit from this policy change with approximately 10,000 metric tons of U.S. corn co-product exports to Saudi Arabia valued at $2.9 million. However in 2013, imports declined to approximately 3,000 tons due to higher prices stimulated by unusually strong demand for DDGS from China, and it wasn’t until 2014 that a rebound occurred with approximately 8,500 tons being imported, valued at $2 million.
The Council invested $85,000 in sponsoring five participants representing the major dairy and poultry companies and major importers of feed grains in Saudi Arabia. The participants attended Export Exchange 2014, where they met directly with U.S. suppliers, and went on a tour in Wisconsin and Illinois visiting corn and dairy farms, a transloading facility and an ethanol plant. As a result, all sales initiated or finalized at this event can be valued at $4.3 million with an ROI of $50.45per every MAP $1 invested.
About The U.S. Grains Council
The U.S. Grains Council develops export markets for U.S. barley, corn, sorghum and related products including distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and ethanol. With full-time presence in 28 locations, the Council operates programs in more than 50 countries and the European Union. The Council believes exports are vital to global economic development and to U.S. agriculture’s profitability. Detailed information about the Council and its programs is online at www.grains.org.