Taiwan pledges to continue U.S. corn buys
Taiwan, a major importer of U.S. field corn, pledged to buy U.S. corn over the next two years—including significant amounts from Minnesota growers—during a Thursday signing ceremony at the state Capitol.
During an event at the Minnesota state Capitol in St. Paul, the Taiwan Feed Industry Association pledged to purchase roughly $600 million in U.S. corn and dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) in 2023 and 2024. The Taiwan Feed Industry Association represents Taiwan’s feed manufacturers.
The agreement was signed as part of the 2022 Taiwan Agricultural Trade Goodwill Export Mission. Signees included Taiwan Feed Industry Association Chairman Dennis Chia-Yin Han and Minnesota Corn Research & Promotion Council Chair Doug Albin. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Taiwan Council of Agriculture Deputy Minister Huang Chin-Cheng, and Johnson Chiang, director general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago, signed the document as witnesses.
The pledge stipulates that Taiwanese feed manufacturers will purchase 1.5 million metric tons of U.S. corn — equivalent to 59 million bushels — and 250,000 metric tons of DDGS. Most of the corn will come from Minnesota, according to Michael Lu, Taiwan director for the U.S. Grains Council (USGC), a nonprofit that promotes global use of U.S. grains and grain coproducts.
“We’ve had a long-standing trade relationship with Taiwan and have certainly enjoyed the camaraderie of the exchanges,” MCR&PC Chair Doug Albin said after the signing. “This was an exciting day for Minnesota corn growers. It’s an exciting boost for Minnesota, and we’re looking forward to this. “
Individual importers and suppliers will privately negotiate the terms, quantities, prices, and conditions of the sales.
Exports provide U.S. corn farmers with billions in revenue annually. In the 2020-21 crop marketing year, for example, the U.S. exported 2.7 billion bushels of corn — equivalent to 69.8 million metric tons — to 73 countries, according to USGC.
A 2018 USGC analysis put the value of Minnesota’s exported corn crop that year at $1.2 billion and concluded that corn exports supports 9,123 jobs in the state.
Taiwan is a major importer of U.S. agricultural products and is consistently among the top-10 export destinations for U.S. corn. In 2020-21 alone, Taiwan imported 4.3 million metric tons of corn, including 1.5 million tons from the U.S.
Taiwan has been sending biennial agricultural trade goodwill export missions to the U.S. since 1998, leading to 78.6 million metric tons of U.S. corn imports. Past missions have stopped in Minnesota and signed pledges to purchase large amounts of U.S. corn.
Minnesota Corn helps develop and maintain international markets for corn and corn co-products by supporting organizations such as USGC, the U.S. Meat Export Federation, the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council. Learn more about these efforts at mncorn.org/utilization.
