A group of flour millers from Southeast Asia recently became pioneers of sorts, making up the first international trade team to receive instruction at the new home of the Northern Crops Institute (NCI). They also were the first team to visit U.S. Wheat Associates’(USW) new West Coast Office in Portland.
More importantly, the professionals from Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines experienced the hard red spring and soft white wheat crop. It has been described as one of the best crops in years.
After a successful USW Contracting for Wheat Value Workshop, the team is returning home with good news to report.
“Auspicious” is how U.S. Vice President for South and Southeast Asia Joe Sowers describes the participants. He points to the favorable opportunities to meet wheat farmers to discuss the crop. Insightful sessions at the Wheat Marketing Center (WMC) and a tour of grain export facilities are important parts of the workshop.
USW’s often-used catchphrase “the U.S. wheat store is always open” rang especially true.
“This Contracting for Wheat Value program has become a regular and very important workshop. We bring representatives from mills in Southeast Asia to the U.S. to help them see and identify the quality characteristics of U.S. wheat,” said Sowers. “A key part of the workshop is a comparison of how their flours perform versus other mills. We work to show them how they can improve the quality of their end products.”
The Philippines is the largest buyer of both U.S. HRS and SW. Indonesia regularly imports between 9 million and 11 million metric tons of wheat. The source is primarily Australia and Canada. But even with a small share, Indonesia is often a Top 10 buyer of US wheat. Indonesia was the seventh largest market last year. The U.S. market share in Indonesia has risen to about 12% in recent years. It is a market with potential for large growth. Malaysia has a much smaller population and is a smaller market, but it has been a consistent buyer of U.S. wheat. There is tremendous potential, as end-product exports by baking companies in Malaysia are growing quickly.
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U.S. Wheat Associates Wheat Letter Blog
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