June 11, 2007

Taiwanese group plans Illinois visit to buy US corn

A Taiwanese agricultural group plans to sign an agreement next week to purchase US corn, the Illinois Corn Marketing Board said in a press release Thursday (Jun 7).

Taiwan, one of the largest customers of US corn, will visit Illinois on June 13-14 and sign an agreement to purchase 7.5 million to 10 million tonnes of US corn for delivery in 2008 and 2009 in Springfield on June 13, the press release said.

"The Taiwanese are great customers who have been loyal buyers of Illinois corn. In the last decade, they have purchased more than 40 million tonnes of corn from the US, much of it from Illinois. This has been worth more than US$4 billion dollars for farmers," said Wendell Shauman, chairman of the Illinois Corn Marketing Board in the release.

The agreement is part of a long-time partnership between the Illinois Corn Marketing Board, the US Grains Council and Taiwan.

Last year, Taiwan imported nearly 4.5 million tonnes of US feed grains, Shauman said.