July 24, 2008

 

US grains see strong potential in north Asia

 

 

China, Japan and Taiwan still hold strong potential for US grains exports, according to representatives from the U.S. Grains Council's (USGC).

 

The representatives were speaking at the council's 48th Annual Board of Delegates Meeting in Alaska.

 

US sales to Japan and Taiwan over the years also have been steadily growing, said Cary Sifferath, USGC senior director in China and former country director in Japan.

 

Sifferath noted that the Chinese government is currently engaged in a balancing act: on one hand, they need grain prices to be as low as possible in order to keep food inflation to a minimum, but at the same time they need to keep prices high enough at the feed level so as to encourage farmers to continue producing.

 

But with China experiencing significant economic growth and growing urbanization, demand for pork, milk, vegetable oil and poultry are increasing, and that means the country's need for grains would increase as well, he said.

 

In the Japanese market, US barley producers hold a large market share both in 2007 and so far in 2008, Sifferath said.

 

From January to May of this year, Japan imported 254,000 tonnes (12 million bushels) of US barley.

 

US DDGS sales to Japan have been going strongly as well, with 23,000 tonnes shipped in May and the pace is expected to continue for the next few months, he said. Sifferath said Japan has so far imported 84,000 tonnes of DDGS in the year.

 

Feed grain exports to Taiwan have also continued to grow over the years. In 2006, U.S. exports peaked at 5.2 million. Although sales have fallen last year, the US is still retaining its 96 percent market share. 

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