Taiwan goodwill mission to sign letters of intent for wheat purchases

The Taiwan Flour Mills Association (TFMA) will sign a letter of intent in Washington, DC, September 10, 2013, to purchase up to 62.5 million bushels (1.7 million metric tons) of U.S. wheat, worth an estimated $484.5 million, over two years between 2014 and 2015.

The signing ceremony at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center kicks off Taiwan’s formal Agricultural Trade Goodwill Mission to the United States to purchase grains and other agricultural products for the people of Taiwan. The Mission will also sign letters of intent with the U.S. Grains Council and the American Soybean Association and will call on members of the U.S. Congress and policy makers in the executive branch. TFMA will then continue its part of the Mission with visits to North Dakota, Montana, Idaho and Oregon to meet with state wheat commission and government representatives before returning to Taiwan September 17, 2013.

U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) President Alan Tracy and Wei-Chang Chang, manager of Thai Ho Milling Co., Ltd., and executive director of TFMA, will co-sign the letter. Tracy said the U.S. wheat industry and Taiwan have a long history of mutually beneficial trade relations.

“Western Wheat Associates, one of the legacy organisations to USW, opened the first overseas marketing office in Taipei in 1966,” Tracy said. “Since that time, U.S. wheat farmers and Taiwan flour millers have built an enduring and successful partnership.”

Taiwan is the sixth largest market for U.S. wheat, purchasing 520 million bushels (14.2 million metric tons) since 1998, worth an estimated $3.27 billion. Significant hard red spring (HRS) imports reflects a need for strong gluten flour for breads, rolls and frozen dough products as well as for blending with hard red winter (HRW) flour to make traditional Chinese flour foods and noodles. Soft white (SW) imports, including western white, help meet growing demand for cake, cookie and pastry flours.

USW is the industry’s market development organisation working in more than 100 countries. Its mission is to “develop, maintain, and expand international markets to enhance the profitability of U.S. wheat producers and their customers.” USW activities are made possible through producer checkoff dollars managed by 19 state wheat commissions and cost-share funding provided by FAS. USW maintains 17 offices strategically located around the world to help wheat buyers, millers, bakers, wheat food processors and government officials understand the quality, value and reliability of all six classes of U.S. wheat. 

English: Wheat (Triticum aestivum) near Auvers-sur-Oise, France, June 2007 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

23/08/2013: USW South Korea new director; IFIF's feed report; Evonik launches animal feed center

The U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) recently announced that Dr. Won Bang Koh, country director, South Korea, is to retire on September 30, 2013. Koh will be replaced by Chang-Yoon Kang.

“In the wheat business, relationships matter and Dr. Koh has built an incredible link between U.S. wheat farmers with the Korean millers and bakers who buy and process their crops. We thank him for his commitment to this industry and for his dedicated service over the last 28 years; he will be missed,” said Alan Tracy, president of USW. 

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Back in July, IFIF launched its "Comparison of Regulatory Management of Authorized Ingredients, Approval Processes, and Risk-Assessment Procedures for Feed Ingredients" report.

Drafted on expert input and support by government feed regulators and feed ingredients associations, the report covers Brazil, Canada, China, European Union, Japan, South Africa, and United States.

The objective of the report is to address similarities and differences among the 7 regulatory jurisdictions on the management of existing feed ingredients, the approval process, and risk management assessment for feed ingredients.

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Evonik Industries has opened its first analytical center for animal feed in South Asia. Located in Singapore, the multimillion US dollar investment complements Evonik's other analytical centers in Hanau, Germany and Beijing, China.  

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Flag of South Korea (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

European team checks out Northern and desert durum crops

European flour millers and food processors seek out the highest quality wheat each year to produce their premium pasta products. That is why U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) is bringing a European trade team to the United States August 24 - 31 to demonstrate how U.S. durum – the hardest of the six U.S. wheat classes – matches their needs.

The team’s seven members are procurement and technical managers of the leading Italian, German and Portuguese durum millers and pasta processors, all of which import most of their wheat directly. During visits to North Dakota, Montana, Arizona and California, the team will learn about 2013/14 northern and Desert® durum crop outlook and research. Farmers in both the Northern Plains and Southwest grow durum, although there are distinct characteristics between the varieties grown in each region. In each state, the team will hear from wheat researchers, tour grain elevators and visit with farmers in the field.

“The team is looking for information on advances in wheat breeding, improved gluten strength and reduced cadmium uptake and sustainability,” said Rutger Koekoek, marketing specialist, based in the USW Rotterdam Office, who will accompany the team. “The program for this team will provide an up-to-date, firsthand picture of U.S. durum wheat quality and boost their confidence in the reliability and value of the U.S. grain marketing system.”

The European durum trade team is sponsored in part by the Montana Wheat & Barley Committee and the Arizona Grain Research & Promotion Council and funding from market development programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service. USW also collaborated with the North Dakota Wheat Commission and California Wheat Commission on this team.  

USW is the industry’s market development organization working in more than 100 countries. Its mission is to “develop, maintain, and expand international markets to enhance the profitability of U.S. wheat producers and their customers.” USW activities are made possible through producer checkoff dollars managed by 19 state wheat commissions and cost-share funding provided by FAS. USW maintains 17 offices strategically located around the world to help wheat buyers, millers, bakers, wheat food processors and government officials understand the quality, value and reliability of all six classes of U.S. wheat.

English: Wheat (Triticum aestivum) near Auvers-sur-Oise, France, June 2007 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

South African team surveys HRW crop in Kansas

A South African trade team is visiting Kansas this week to obtain a firsthand glimpse of the 2013 hard red winter (HRW) crop. The team arrived in Kansas on July 6, 2013 and has spent the week visiting with wheat farmers, researchers, inspectors, traders and baking experts.

USW collaborated with Kansas Wheat to organise the team, which included two representatives from Premier Foods, who markets a number of the country's top flour and corn meal brands, and one member of the OLAM trading group. Domenique De Oliveira, USW regional program/information systems coordinator , based in the USW Cape Town office, accompanied the team.

“These team members are well recognised in the South African milling industry for their evaluations of imported wheat quality,” said Ed Wiese, USW regional vice president for Sub-Saharan Africa . “The information gained from this farm to inspection visit will be very useful in their discussions for future purchases of U.S. wheat.”

South Africa is the largest wheat producer in Sub-Saharan Africa, but imports between 1.2 and 1.7 million metric tons of wheat each year. Importers annually assess the quality and price of local and world wheat crops and purchase accordingly from multiple origins.
USW is the industry’s market development organisation working in more than 100 countries. Its mission is to “develop, maintain, and expand international markets to enhance the profitability of U.S. wheat producers and their customers.” USW activities are made possible through producer checkoff dollars managed by 19 state wheat commissions and cost-share funding provided by USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service. USW maintains 17 offices strategically located around the world to help wheat buyers, millers, bakers, wheat food processors and government officials understand the quality, value and reliability of all six classes of U.S. wheat.

Wheat (Photo credit: gedem)

Ecuador trade team visit focuses on U.S. wheat competitive advantages

In an increasingly competitive world wheat market, U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) must be positioned to help U.S. wheat farmers take advantage of any market opportunity. Ecuador presented one such chance after the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) lost its export monopoly control on August 1 2012. In the past year, USW has turned an ongoing relationship with flour millers in Ecuador into increased sales. This summer, USW will further foster greater demand in Ecuador by bringing a team of experienced Ecuadoran wheat buyers to the United States June 16 to 22 2013, to learn more about the advantages of U.S. wheat and the export supply system.

“Despite heavy competition from the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly, USW managed to gain a decent share of the market,” said Alvaro de la Fuente, USW regional vice president, who will lead the trade mission. “Now, we are competing equally with Canada on the basis of quality and value and U.S. wheat commercial sales are up more than 50 percent year over year.”

 

Ecuador has imported more than 540,000 metric tons of wheat per year on average since marketing year 2007/08. Canadian spring wheat made up the largest share of the total, but U.S. soft red winter (SRW), hard red winter (HRW) and soft white (SW) wheat commercial sales for 2012/13 (June to May) reached more than 7.6 million bushels (205,800 metric tons), compared to a five year average of 5.1 million bushels (139,000 metric tons).

One of the goals of this trade mission is to demonstrate the value of HRW or blends of HRW and U.S. hard red spring (HRS) with SW or SRW compared to Canadian spring wheat.

“With minor adjustments, bakers can lower their costs with flour blends milled from U.S. wheat without compromising quality,” de la Fuente said.

The team’s first stop is Portland, OR, where there is access to U.S wheat supply systems from the wheat farms to end product education at the Wheat Marketing Center. Buyers will also learn how opportune it is to source multiple wheat classes and protein levels from the Pacific Northwest. In Oklahoma, the team will see HRW wheat in the field, observe how that wheat moves efficiently to market and get a first look at HRW quality for 2013/14. Price discovery, quality certification and trade considerations will be featured in the team’s final stop in Kansas City, MO.

In addition to generous support from the Oklahoma Wheat Commission and USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service, USW worked with Kansas Wheat, the Oregon Wheat Commission, the Wheat Marketing Center, the Federal Grain Inspection Service and grain trade companies to organise the Ecuador trade team.

English: Flag of Ecuador (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

01/05/2013: Thin crops show better fungicide response; Japanese milling executives to tour U.S. wheat industry; EU bans pesticides linked to bee decline

Cereal growers are being urged to persist with their thin backward winter crops as they will respond more to disease-controlling fungicide sprays than thick ones.

Bill Clark, commercial technical director of crop consultants NIAB, says the late season means fungicide regimes will be simpler and less expensive than in 2012, but still important.

"Thin crops can yield okay provided we protect as much green leaf area as we can by good disease control and then we get good grain filling conditions after flowering in June," he said.

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As part of long-term marketing development activities, U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) is bringing a team of Japanese milling executives to North Dakota and Washington, D.C., May 1-7, 2013, for a firsthand look at this year’s crop.

In addition to examining current crop conditions and quality, team members will discuss market and trade policy developments with U.S. agricultural organisations.
 
“These team visits to the United States give milling executives more insight and perspective into U.S. wheat’s consistently high quality, reliability and value,” said Wataru “Charlie” Utsunomiya, USW Japan county director.

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EU member states have voted to ban farmers across Europe from using neonicotinoid pesticides linked to bee decline. The two-year suspension will come into force from December 1, 2013, following a European Commission vote in Brussels.

The decision is a massive blow to farmers who rely on neonicotinoid pesticides to keep their crops clear of yield-sapping pests. The ruling means the use of three neonicotinoid active ingredients - imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiamethoxam - will be banned on flowering crops, such as maize, oilseed rape and sunflowers.

Analysts have estimated a ban would cost the UK economy £630 m (US $980,299,629.91). 

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North Dakota State Mill in Grand Forks, North Dakota, 1915 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

China to import more wheat from the US

Guangzhou Huaren Grain Trading Co, Ltd has sent a team of executives to the US from October 19 to 28, to get an understanding of the US wheat handling and export system. The Chinese team is sponsored by the US Wheat Associates (USW) and will meet with various organisations during its visit. "This organisation holds import/export rights for cereal and feed grains," said USW People's Republic of China/Hong Kong Regional Vice President Matt Weimer, who is leading the team. Read more ...

This blog is written by Martin Little, The Global Miller, published and supported by the GFMT Magazine and the International Milling Directory from Perendale Publishers