December 18, 2006

 

Ethanol boom boosts DDGS imports in Asia

 

 

The rapid expansion of the ethanol industry is not just confined to the American shores.

 

It has also boosted Asian imports of distillers grain.

 

The US Grains Council has been trying to expand markets for dried distillers grains with solubles, or DDGS. The latter is a byproduct of the alternative fuel used as high-protein livestock feed, in Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam and China, said Cary Sifferath, the council's Japan senior director.

 

They were now looking for export markets to keep export prices up, Sifferath said adding most corn board members were keen on that.

 

When ethanol plants turn corn into fuel, the process uses only the starch, which is about 70 percent of the kernel. The protein, fibre and oils left behind are concentrated into distillers grain.

 

A 56-pound bushel of corn produces about 2.8 gallons of ethanol and 17 pounds of distillers grain, according to the American Coalition of Ethanol.

 

While the wet distillers grain could be sold locally, it could also be dried to increase shelf life, allowing it to be shipped over longer distances.

 

Turning wet distillers grain into DDGS involves separating the liquid from the mash, partly dehydrating that liquid into a syrup and adding it back into grain.

 

Ethanol plants in the US produced 9 million tonnes of distillers grain in 2005, most of which was exported to Ireland, Mexico, Spain, Canada and the UK, according to the USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service reports.

 

Brian Jennings, executive vice president of the American Coalition of Ethanol, said the industry has traditionally focused less on finding markets for ethanol's byproduct than the corn-based fuel itself.

 

However, the industry was now working on making distillers grains more digestible and acceptable to livestock diets, he added. The product could soon be used on swine and poultry too.

 

In Taiwan, rising feed ingredient prices were helping to increase the country's DDGS imports. The same could reach 100,000 tonnes this year, way above the 20,000-tonne target set by the US Grains Council.

 

China too has shown an interest in this regard.

 

In Japan, monthly DDGS imports shot up in April, with 7,073 tonnes coming into the country, 4,451 tonnes of which from the US.