More than 160 buyers from across Southeast Asia met Sept. 12-14 in Danang, Vietnam for the S.E. U.S. Agricultural Cooperators Conference. The annual event brings together importers, end-users, and suppliers of U.S. soy, corn, wheat and their co-products.
The event hosted jointly by the U.S. Grains Council (USGC), U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC), and U.S. Wheat Associates addressed the global challenges of food security, sustainability, and innovation, while emphasizing the need to facilitate collaboration, knowledge exchange, and action.
Farmer leaders and staff with Indiana Soybean Alliance and Indiana Corn Marketing Council attended the conference.
Ed Ebert, senior director of market development with ISA and ICMC, says the Southeast Asia region is a growing and dynamic market for both corn and soybean products.
“When you look at the globe and look at where global trade flows are, this is the place to be right now,” he says. “…The focus of the meeting was around all the growth areas. We talked about sustainability and differentiation of U.S. grains and products both on the corn and soybean side. It was a robust conference in terms of information that was given out and the number of buyers that were here. Buyers from companies across this region were here to listen to information and make contacts with U.S. firms that are exporting to this region.”
ISA and ICMC were among several checkoff organizations that sponsored the conference. Ebert says it gave farmers an opportunity to see the importance of growing relationships and trade.
“From a farmer’s perspective, it gives them the opportunity to see the depth and breadth of the engagement that takes place here,” he says. “An event like the S.E. Asia U.S. Agricultural Cooperators Conference gives our farmers the opportunity to see the coordination that goes on between cooperators, starting with USDA through the Foreign Agricultural Service all the way down through both USGC and USSEC to the Qualified State Soybean Board (QSSB) level to where we get to look at specific programs that our farmers are funding through their checkoff dollars.”
Scott Hutchins, sustainability and value creation consultant with ISA and ICMC, spoke on a panel during the conference.
“There are several things that I took away from the conference. First of all, macroeconomics matter. There was a lot of discussion about what’s going to happen in the world, particularly this part of the world, and it’s important to understand that and integrate it within overall market development plans and I think Indiana does that very well,” Hutchins says. “Secondly, sustainability isn’t a new topic, but it’s certainly gaining a lot of steam. It’s going to be more important to understand and participate and convince our customers that Indiana is at the forefront of sustainable practices. It’s also going to be important to work sincerely, intently, and genuinely in order to accommodate these new expectations moving forward.”
Through the conference, the U.S. Soybean Export Council works to create a preference for U.S. soy and provide platforms to facilitate business opportunities with exporters.
- For example, Vietnam is the second largest U.S. soy import market in Southeast Asia after Indonesia.
- According to USDA’s Economic Research Service, Vietnam is expanding its crushing capacity to meet growing feed demand. It’s expected to boost the country’s soybean imports by 28.5 percent to 2.8 million tons by 2032-2033 and increase imports of soybean meal.
The U.S. Grains Council aims to create demand for corn and corn product exports in the region’s growing markets.
- USGC says Vietnam was the region’s largest importer of U.S. corn during the 2020-2021 marketing year, importing more than 20 million bushels.
Overall, the S.E. Asia U.S. Agricultural Cooperators Conference helps promote U.S. ag products; provide the latest global market and industry information, develop business relationships; and facilitate engagement between decision-makers to communicate trade and product matters.
The conference has served the region for nearly 20 years.
Learn more about how we are investing in growing new markets for corn and soybeans:
