US Grains Council : Council Offers Technical Consultations on DDGS In Korea

The U.S. Grains Council (USGC) visited 10 major distiller's dried grains with solubles (DDGS) importers and commercial mixed feed manufacturers recently to carry out one-on-one consultations and review the current DDGS market situation with them.

Haksoo Kim, USGC director in Korea, along with Council DDGS consultant Soobo Shim visited five of Korea's largest importers and an additional five feed millers representing a collective market share of more than 50 percent.

Their goal was to provide scientific information on the nutritional and physical characteristics of DDGS as well as an update on U.S. DDGS supply and demand.

Korean feed millers began introducing DDGS into feed rations in 2004. While most are familiar with the product, few are using it optimally due to lingering concerns about nutrition value, inconsistent product and changes in the product's oil content. The recent one-on-one educational outreach was a response to these concerns and complements other promotion activities like conferences and trade3 teams.

'Markets like Korea are the perfect opportunity to provide technical consulting as well as marketing information to interested end-users and importers to increase the demand for DDGS,' Kim said.

'Bringing our key customers up to date on market and supplier information such as FOB price trends and market issues is what customers need to become comfortable with including more U.S. DDGS in feed rations.'

From January to November 2015, Korea imported 532,656 metric tons of DDGS, with more than 95 percent of it sourced from the United States. The Council believes there is room for significant growth in this market, particularly with attractive DDGS prices and additional potential supply on the market.

The Council plans to continue outreach on DDGS by identifying customers' needs, strengthen our efforts to meet those needs and continuing to work directly with top customers.