|
March 21 - U.S. DDGS CARVES WAY INTO CHINESE MARKET: China is one of
the latest countries to import U.S. distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS), having recently purchased 150 metric tons from Midwest Ag Enterprises. Fifty tons of U.S. DDGS arrived at TianjinPort on March 14.
An additional 100 tons of the product, which are destined for two receivers in
Guangdong province, currently await inspection results at HuangpuPort before they will transfer to feed mills in the city of Guangzhou, according to the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) which helped to facilitate the
sales with the investment of Illinois corn checkoff dollars. The Council’s partner farm, Huaxia Dairy Farm in Sanhe city, Hebei province, will use its’ first-ever purchase of DDGS in feeding trials.
The other 100 tons of the product will be used in Guangzhou city by Guangdong Haid
Group Corp., Ltd. and Wen’s Food Corp., Ltd. The two feed companies have imported 50 tons of DDGS each.
“There is great potential for U.S. DDGS in Guangdong province and it could be as
high as 70,000 tons if they only use 5 percent of U.S. DDGS in their rations,” said Sam Niu, assistant director of the Council’s Beijing office. “Huaxia Dairy Farm and Guangdong Haid Group Corp. Ltd. have
shown great interest in U.S. DDGS,” he added, saying both plan to import more in the near future. “Each may fix U.S. DDGS into their rations if it is not too expensive,” he said.
The current price for U.S. DDGS is about $50-60/MT higher than domestic DDGS,
but similar in price to domestic cotton seed meal and rapeseed meal, and much lower than local soybean meal. Supply for local cotton seed meal, rapeseed meal and domestically produced DDGS is tight, according to
Niu. As Huaxia Dairy Farm and Guangdong Haid Group Corp. Ltd. undertake feeding trials using the newly imported DDGS, the Council will assist them in monitoring the results.
GROWER INVESTMENT IN DDGS OPENING NEW MARKETS: Distiller’s dried grains with
solubles (DDGS) are beginning to make their way into several non-traditional U.S. export markets, creating an unusual trend. The U.S. Grains Council has invested Illinois corn checkoff market development funds to
build active markets in Turkey, Morocco,China and most recently, a smaller market in Bangladesh, which received its first consignment of 251 metric tons on March 16 and is expecting an additional 251 tons next week.
“There are three factors contributing to this trend,” said Dan Keefe, USGC
manager of international operations — DDGS. “First, these exports are a result of the Council’s efforts over the last three years in organizing feeding trials, conducting logistics studies, and targeting key
buyers in our regional trade missions,” he said. “Secondly, the product has increased to the point where both bulk and container buyers can get enough volume to meet their demands. The third reason is that there
is an increased world demand for U.S. feedstuffs, especially corn, which has aided the growth of DDGS exports by providing competitive combination cargo freight costs.” According to Keefe, the Council’s regional
promotion of DDGS has experienced great success in non-traditional export markets such as Turkey, which imported 136,519 tons last year compared to 416 tons in 2006. Council involvement led to Turkey amending DDGS
import policies that makes it more attractive to import, resulting in increased purchases. The Council’s regional efforts have also influenced Morocco’s imports. Morocco bought 43,246 tons of U.S. DDGS last year
compared to 27,858 tons in 2006. Overall, total global exports of U.S. DDGS have risen 100 percent in 2007, with 2.4 million metric tons exported, up from 1.3 million in 2006
|
