Ethanol Blog

Southeast Asia Biotech Trade Discussed at Singapore Symposium

Cheryl Anderson
By  Cheryl Anderson , DTN Staff Reporter

The trade of genetically engineered grain and co-products, including dried distillers grains, to Southeast Asian countries dominated the discussion at a recent trade symposium in Singapore, according to an article by the U.S. Grains Council (http://bit.ly/…).

The U.S. Grains Council and more than 200 companies from many countries attended the meeting to discuss the future of feed grain trade in the region, especially in light of the trade disruptions with China over biotech traits in grains and DDG.

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Many surrounding regions benefited from China's ban on genetically engineered corn and DDG, especially Southeast Asia. Vietnam's DDG purchases doubled year-over-year in spite of a 25% increase in domestic production. Likewise, imports of DDG to the Philippines increased almost 90% year-over-year, due largely to cargoes diverted from China.

USDA's projections for future imports of corn to China have fallen from an original estimate of 22 million metric tons in 2023/2024 to a new estimate of only 6.5 mmt. This appears to indicate that the risk associated with asynchronous biotech approvals will not be immediately solved.

As for the future of biotech traits in Southeast Asia, some speakers said that non-genetically engineered feed grains and co-products are not a huge dilemma. For instance, Ukraine's corn and India's soybean meal are not sold at a premium and are often discounted and viewed as poorer quality.

Science has become the focus of food security policy in the overall Southeast Asian region. For instance, Vietnam will approve biotech traits if it has been approved in five Organization for Economic Co-operation (OECD) or Group of 20 countries. Last year, Vietnam approved four corn traits for commercial planting, as well as a new trait for commercial cultivation within the country. Also, Philippine farmers have been growing genetically engineered corn more than 10 years. In fact, about 30% of total corn acres in the Philippines are genetically engineered varieties.

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

(ES)

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