Jul 24, 2020
The US Grains Council (USGC) has been engaging future export opportunities for distiller’s dried grains (DDG) to South East Asia.
Thanks to extensive technical education and trade servicing by USGC staff, DDG is expanding its footprint in countries throughout the region. Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand all rank in the top 10 buyers for the co-product. Other markets like the Philippines and Malaysia are also increasing interest and purchases of DDG and other corn co-products.
“South East Asia is now the destination for one-third of all US DDG exports,” said Caleb Wurth, USGC assistant director of South East Asia. “The region will be one of the strongest performing markets for distiller's grains this marketing year, despite challenges related to movement restrictions, lack of available containers and new trade agreements signed between major markets and U.S. competitors.”
The DDG tech talk series followed webinars focused on trade policy and challenges and opportunities in the region. The first talk was conducted in partnership with PAFMI (the Philippine Feed Mill Association) with technical staff of PAFMI member companies joining the webinar. PAFMI members represent the largest segment of the Philippine feed industry, making this partnership critical to expanding trade relationships in the country.
“When designing the program, we wanted to address the top constraints to increased DDG usage in the Philippines,” Wurth said. “Leading examples were storage and handling followed by nutritional value awareness, which became our focus topics for the webinar.”
The second talk was conducted with one of the largest feed millers in South East Asia, part of a new strategic partnership in the region. More than 60 decision-level participants logged in from all the company’s offices in South East Asia, South Asia and North Asia.
Read the original story here.