The U.S. Grains Council (USGC) hosted a series of promotional events around the world in January in support of its 2023-24 Corn Harvest Quality Report, published annually in November. The report contains detailed physical and chemical analysis of U.S.-grown corn to international shippers and buyers.
The first of these events was conducted by USGC staff in China, who organized a corn quality roadshow and seminar in Beijing and Guangdong Province to discuss the results of the report and inform attendees about other critical topics relevant to the country – one of U.S. agriculture’s largest markets. Outside the seminar, the Council’s team had the opportunity to meet one-on-one with several major manufacturing companies to identify their material requirements for the future.
Elsewhere in Asia, USGC staff hosted corn quality report rollout events in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. While many of the CQRs follow a similar agenda, each is tailored to the specific market in which it is taking place to best meet the needs of customers there.
In Taiwan and Japan, attendees were presented with the results of the report in addition to hearing from two U.S. corn farmers and USGC Vice President Cary Sifferath, who gave updates on the global supply chain before question-and-answer panels took place at both events.
“Attendees in Taiwan expressed their gratitude that the Council provided insight on logistical issues and the possible ways to combat those,” said Michael Lu, USGC director in Taiwan. “They were also impressed by the precision farming techniques U.S. corn producers used to reach high efficiency of production and environmental protection.”
Potential buyers in Korea were also given the chance to hear more about the high quality of the 2023 U.S. corn crop during the event in Seoul. USGC At-Large Director Jim O’Connor of the Minnesota Corn Research and Promotion Council gave attendees insights into this year’s crop from his experiences in the field. A global grain market outlook and presentation on the USGC’s Corn Sustainability Assurance Protocol (CSAP) wrapped up the event.
Later that month in Malta, USGC’s Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) regional office hosted its 13th annual rollout event that drew 75 attendees from Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Switzerland, S pain, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Lebanon, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Kenya and Nigeria.
The seminar also covered several trade and technical topics, including global and U.S. feed grains supply and demand, global freight trends and Suez Canal logistics challenges, corn co-products cost availability and nutritional value in feed formulations, and a presentation on the starch and storage USGC programs in the region.
The event included one-on-one meetings with key importer companies to further promote the quality and value of U.S. corn and corn co-products. These meetings resulted in negotiations of more than 110,000 metric tons (4,330,480 bushels) of corn and corn co-products set to enter the region.
“Every year, the Council organizes quality rollouts to disseminate information at two critical points in the corn marketing year – at harvest and at time of export. The information shared was very useful for all stakeholders to not only glean information about current crop conditions and quality, which then translates to purchasing decisions, but also in allowing USGC to showcase the value, transparency and integrity of the U.S. corn export market from the farm through the marketing system,” said Ramy H. Taieb, USGC EMEA regional director.
