The past year included opportunities and challenges for the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) staff, membership and partners. The Council has worked to capture a collection of market stories that illustrate how exports in 2017 reflect shifting dynamics in world markets and global policy and is now presenting these online with its annual year in review.
The new microsite – https://grains.org/2017-annual-report/ – includes information on worldwide initiatives as well as specific activities related to corn, sorghum, barley, distiller’s dried grains with solubes (DDGS) and ethanol.
For example, Mexico set a new record for U.S. corn imports as the top buyer, and the story of developing an integrated market between U.S. barley and Mexican beer was one of the year’s most popular. These successes were achieved in spite of significant uncertainty as modernization talks began for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and as Mexico’s buyers began considering alternative grain suppliers.
The Council worked to resolve a major trade disruption in Vietnam, while at the same time focusing on helping end-users around the world determine how to best incorporate U.S. DDGS into their rations. Efforts led to significant sales diversification with a total of 54 countries buying the ethanol co-product.
Additionally, as a result of the Council’s active global engagement and the competitiveness of U.S. ethanol, nearly 1.4 billion gallons were exported worldwide to 76 countries, an all-time record. Through the successful Ethanol Summit of the Americas, the Council connected domestic stakeholders with government and industry representatives, forming connections already yielding results.
These successes, and more described on the microsite, are a result of the Council’s work to support U.S. producers and agribusinesses by identifying short-term market opportunities and building long-term demand for U.S. coarse grains and co-products, aided by an intense focus on trade policy issues. These efforts are supported by the Council’s diverse membership that provides critical support by helping identify issues, provide valuable information and implement solutions.
View the full 2017 year in review at https://grains.org/2017-annual-report/.
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.