Ethanol Blog

While the U.S. had experienced a decline in recent years in its market share of feed grain exports to Israel, that trend seems to be turning around, according to an article by the U.S. Grains Council (http://bit.ly/…).

Israel imports between 2.4 and 2.5 million metric tons of feed grains annually; a mix of corn, feed wheat, barley, sorghum oats and rye, as well as dried distillers grains with solubles and corn gluten feed.

Black sea sources such as Ukraine and Russia have captured the greater market share in Israel in recent years since those countries' proximity results in an advantage in freight costs over countries like the U.S.

Cary Sifferath, U.S. Grains Council regional director for Middle East and Africa, recently traveled to Israel to meet with importers and get a feel for the feed grains market. He reported that the U.S. market share is beginning to rebound.

In the current marketing year, Israel has already imported 205,000 tons of U.S. corn for May and June shipment, and Sifferath estimates another 64,000 tons is scheduled for July shipment.

Because of shortages of forage and fiber-based feed ingredients in Israel, Sifferath said the country is expected to continue its steady imports of U.S. DDGS and CGF, mostly for its dairy industry, although some is beginning to be consumed by the country's poultry sector.

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

(ES)

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