USGC Promotion Programs Lead to Record DDGS Exports To South Korea

Using Market Access Program (MAP) funds, the U.S. Grains Council’s (USGC’s) promotion programs in South Korea resulted in record U.S. distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) exports in 2018, reaching 1.096 million metric tons valued at $246 million.

This is the fifth consecutive year of record DDGS export since 2014. In that time, U.S. DDGS exports have increased 58 percent in terms of value, from $158 million in 2013 to $246 million in 2018, and by 148 percent in terms of volume, from 442,000 tons to 1.096 million tons.

The major obstacles to expanding imports of U.S. DDGS by Korean buyers were the lack of confidence in using the product in animal feeds and misunderstandings about its nutritional and economic values. To increase U.S. DDGS exports to South Korea, the Council has used two targeted strategies since 2014. First, the Council invited a U.S. DDGS nutrition specialist to South Korea to conduct DDGS technology seminars and build confidence among Korean nutritionists in how to utilize and maximize the inclusion rates of U.S. DDGS. Another targeted strategy was to introduce DDGS buyers to reliable U.S. DDGS suppliers, helping them establish stable supply channels that can allow for consistent product quality and encouraging long-term commercial relationships to develop between U.S. suppliers and their South Korean counterparts.

The Council invested $429,100 of MAP funds in these programs over the course of the past four years, which resulted in an increase of U.S. DDGS export value to South Korea of $88 million over the 2014 export value. This created a return on investment (ROI) of $205 for every $1 of MAP invested.

Learn more about the Council’s work to increase U.S. DDGS inclusion rates.