China Steps In, Buys Boatloads Full of Sorghum

WASHINGTON, DC – Industry groups are applauding large sales of U.S. sorghum. The sorghum industry experienced one of the largest export weeks in history with 17.5 million bushels committed for purchase and the majority destined for China. In all, the purchases of 68.5 million bushels this marketing year are substantially ahead year-over-year and reaching more than half of the USDA’s export target for sorghum with six months still remaining in the marketing year. The uptick directly follows the Phase One trade deal between the United States and China in January. In the agreement, the Chinese pledge to purchase up to $80 billion in agricultural goods over the next two years while also making structural changes that should provide U.S. producers improved access to the Chinese market over the long term. On a macro-economic scale, the Chinese market holds immense growth potential for U.S. agriculture. China is the second-largest corn producer and consumer behind the United States and, in the past, was the world’s largest importer of sorghum and distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS). These feed ingredients supply the world’s largest swine, aquaculture and egg industries, the second-largest poultry industry and growing dairy and beef operations.