Ethanol Blog

Grains Council Plans Targets Trade with Cuba

Cheryl Anderson
By  Cheryl Anderson , DTN Staff Reporter

With removal of a major trade restriction under the Obama Administration's goal to improve trade with Cuba, the U.S. Grains Council is making major efforts to increase the U.S. market share of Cuba's purchases of grain and dried distillers grains with solubles, according to an article on the Council's website (http://bit.ly/…).

The Council's efforts will begin this week with a team of representatives from the U.S. ag sector making an exploratory mission trip to meet with industry leads and Cuban officials. A follow-up mission will target grower organizations, as well as addressing marketing, financial and educational barriers to growth in sales.

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U.S. market share of Cuba's corn purchases has ranged from as high as 100%, down to 15% in the last marketing year. The Council estimates that Cuba could be the 12th largest export market if it purchased all its imported corn from the U.S.

Cuba has been importing U.S. DDGS since 2005, though the quantity of its purchases has gone up and down in the past 10 years. According to statistics by USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service, Cuba purchased a total of 10,043 metric tons in 2005, then peaked at 133,636 mt in 2010 before falling to none in 2014.

The Council considers a payment rule to be the primary obstacle to increasing the U.S. market share. The rule requires cash be transferred before grain/DDGS purchases arrive at Cuban ports. Although the regulations are to be eased under the new U.S. initiative, Congressional action will be required to fully remove the embargo.

Cheryl Anderson can be reached at Cheryl.anderson@dtn.com

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