hard red winter Archives - U.S. Wheat Associates

2022, Caribbean, Export, exports, hard red winter, HRW, MAP, Market Access Program, milling, soft red winter, SRW, trade service Hard Red Winter, Soft Red Winter

Grain Purchasing Course Increases Caribbean Market Demand

With funding from the Market Access Program (MAP), U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) educated some top U.S. wheat customers in the Caribbean Region about the methods and mechanics of grain purchasing and trading. Hosted at the Northern Crops Institute in North Dakota, the customized procurement course attracted milling companies from the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Mexico, Panama and Trinidad &Tobago.

Home to nearly 30 million people, the Caribbean’s proximity to the U.S. provides competitive advantage for U.S. wheat exports. USW considers the region a growth market for U.S. wheat and targets islands that have flour mills and sizeable end-product manufacturing. Giving millers updated tools to make purchasing decisions is seen as a solid business decision for the U.S. wheat industry.

Helping Customers See More Value

USW’s Grain Purchasing Short Course took place in June 2022 with a focus on U.S. wheat supply, global demand and grain merchandising. The course also included a “Getting the Wheat Value You Want” presentation by USW and an opportunity to practice futures trading at North Dakota State University. Visits to the Port of Duluth-Superior, the CHS export facility in Duluth and meetings with the area grain trade were also part of the experience.

During follow-ups to the course, A Dominican Republic mill purchased an additional 3,000 metric tons (MT) of U.S. soft red winter (SRW) wheat and an additional 2,000 MT of hard red winter (HRW) wheat valued at approximately $1.9 million. A Haitian mill reported that, because of what it learned in the course, it was able to request and evaluate basis offers, FOB offers and CIF offers. Savings realized using these methods increased satisfaction with U.S. wheat. The company reported purchases of 36,000 MT of U.S. HRW from July 2022 through February 2023 valued at approximately $14.6 million.

September 22, 2023/by Steve Mercer

2022, Crop Quality, hard red spring, hard red spring wheat, hard red winter, Korea, Korean Flour Millers Association Hard Red Spring, Hard Red Winter, Soft White

USW Helps Korean Flour Millers See Value in U.S. Wheat Purchases

The run-up in U.S. and global wheat prices following the Russian invasion of Ukraine made intensive trade service even more important for U.S. wheat importing customers. Foreign Market Development (FMD) program funds helped U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) gave Korean flour millers the experience needed to continue purchasing U.S. wheat in July 2022.

USW Seoul brought six flour milling executives responsible for wheat purchases through their membership in the Korea Flour Millers Industry Association (KOFMIA) to Montana, Washington State and Oregon to see the 2022 wheat crops and gain a better understanding of how the U.S. wheat supply chain ensures quality and value.

Loyalty is Strong

Even though U.S. wheat prices were higher than competing supplies, in August 2022, KOFMIA purchased 82,500 MT of hard red spring (HRS), hard red winter (HRW) and soft white (SW) wheat with an FOB value of $31.8 million. Based on information from the U.S. visit, KOFMIA saved money by adjusting SW protein specifications without compromising functional quality.

Then, in January 2023, one of the millers on the team contacted USW for guidance on a potential opportunity for SW prices. USW demonstrated the advantageous spread between SW and Australian soft wheat. The USW recommendation resulted in an additional purchase of 2,000 MT of SW with an FOB value of $616,000.

September 22, 2023/by Steve Mercer

China, Foreign Agricultural Service, hard red spring, hard red winter, MAP, Market Access Program, soft red winter, soft white, trade negotiations, U.S. wheat, U.S. Wheat Associates, U.S. wheat exports Hard Red Spring, Hard Red Winter, Soft White

Maintaining Strong Awareness of U.S. Wheat Quality in China

It is certainly true that the trade relations between the United States and China have been and remain in a difficult place. However, USDA Foreign Agricultural Service cooperator U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) is confident that this trade confrontation will one day be resolved. After many years investing funding from the Market Access Program (MAP) and Foreign Market Development (FMD) program, USW remains engaged in keeping our once and future wheat importing customers in China informed about the quality, variety and value of U.S. wheat in anticipation of future opportunities.

USW maintains a presence in Beijing but did not replace a retired colleague to help hold the line on FMD investment. Trade service visits in the first six months of 2019 confirm that private flour millers want to continue importing U.S. hard red spring (HRS) and soft white (SW) when the tariff conflict is resolved. The only flour miller who purchased any U.S. wheat in marketing year 2018/19 was willing to pay the 25% punitive tariff and took delivery of 43,000 metric tons of HRS in April. He expressed an abiding interest in the functionality, flavor and good milling characteristic of U.S. wheat, and holds high hopes for not just a “normal” trading relationship, but one that allow mills like his to run much more of it.

USW representatives also conducted trade service visits with customers attending Bakery China Shanghai 2019. They participated in a U.S. agricultural product showcase sponsored by the USDA/FAS Agricultural Trade Officer posted in Shanghai to highlight the differential advantages of U.S. HRS and other classes of wheat. USW Regional Vice President Jeff Coey reported that every customer was eager to regain access to the high-quality U.S. wheat they learned about through export development programs and experience over the years.

Officials with China’s state-sponsored grain buying agencies also welcome USW trade servicing, technical training and relationship management activities. Even with the tariffs in place, in May 2019 Coey and USW/Beijing Country Director Shirley Lu were invited to speak at a conference in Xiamen to several millers who gained new information about the functional value of U.S. wheat classes. Bakery training classes conducted by USW’s technical specialist in 2019 also expanded awareness of U.S. wheat’s superior functional benefits.

In addition, officials were happy to hear that USW’s commitment to the China market remains unchanged. In fact, USW told the officials it intends to increase its activities in partnership with FAS in part with funding from the Agricultural Trade Promotion (ATP) program to keep U.S. wheat top of mind among users and policy makers in China. Under ATP, for example, USW plans to hold a series of “Contracting for Wheat Value” courses in the United States for commercial and state wheat buyers over the next three years. Participants will be managers with direct wheat trade contacts that influence wheat purchasing in their organizations. After the courses, participants will get the chance to observe wheat breeding, farms, transportation, quality control and Federal Grain Inspection Service processes.

Given that China imported 1.6 million metric tons of U.S. HRS, SW and soft red winter (SRW) wheat in marketing year 2016/17 and more than 800,000 metric tons of U.S. wheat in 2017/18 before the retaliatory tariffs were implemented, potential demand will benefit farmers in the Pacific Northwest and Northern Plains. And, with funding from MAP, FMD and ATP, USW’s commitment to service in China will continue long after this trade conflict has ended.

May 20, 2019/by Erica Oakley

Crop Quality, crop quality seminars, Foreign Agricultural Service, hard red spring, hard red winter, soft white, U.S. wheat, U.S. Wheat Associates, U.S. wheat exports Hard Red Spring, Hard Red Winter, Soft White

Crop Quality Seminars Create Ideal Environment for South Asian Wheat Export Sales

Fully disclosing the quality of new wheat crops is an effective trade service activity for USDA Foreign Agricultural Service cooperator U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) to help its overseas customers prepare to purchase U.S. milling wheat. In South Asia, Crop Quality Seminars funded in part by the Market Access Program (MAP) directly stimulated sales of U.S. hard red spring (HRS) and soft white (SW) in 2018.

USW hosted three Crop Quality Seminars in the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia in November 2018. Nearly 200 milling and baking companies participates in these seminars, including representatives from Vietnam, Malaysia and Burma (Myanmar) at the Bangkok Seminar.

The seminars present a wide range of data on the grade, protein, soundness, milling and baking quality of all six U.S. wheat classes. USW gathers this data throughout harvest from private and USDA partner organizations also funded by MAP. The final USW Crop Quality Report is printed and shipped to seminar locations. The teams that represent U.S. wheat include USW representatives from the United States and the organization’s South Asia Region, who come from offices in Singapore and Manila supported by Foreign Market Development (FMD) funds.

U.S. farmers and invited consultants also travel with the Crop Quality Teams. In 2018, for example, Dr. Art Bettge, retired Director of the USDA-ARS Western Wheat Quality Laboratory in Pullman, WA, presented information on the SW quality and breeding programs helping to meet growing demand for more and improved SW wheat from Asian markets. Dr. Senay Simsek, professor and head of Wheat Quality & Carbohydrate Research at North Dakota State University discussed HRS data and related U.S. food processing innovation related to “clean label” bread products.

U.S. grain merchandisers representing Pacific Northwest exporters and their regional affiliates joined the seminars in all three locations. They introduced the logistics, movement and other factors affecting wheat export prices. Their direct participation helped foster convenient connections between these private sellers and customers attending the seminars.

Participant surveys indicated the buyers rated the value of the content and speakers very highly. And the grain merchandisers reported booking export sales of more than 200,000 metric tons of U.S. HRS and SW with an approximate value of $50 million as a direct result of the seminars. The estimated investment in the three South Asian seminars from MAP funds and in-kind contributions from state wheat commissions is $130,000. Total accumulated export sales of HRS, SW and hard red winter (HRW) for marketing year 2018/19 to the countries represented at these three seminars reached a record level of almost 5.6 million metric tons, benefiting farmers and U.S. wheat supply industries in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Minnesota.

November 24, 2018/by Erica Oakley

Agricultural Trade Promotion, ATP, bakeries, Ecuador, Foreign Agricultural Service, hard red winter, soft red winter, U.S. wheat, U.S. Wheat Associates, U.S. wheat exports Hard Red Winter

U.S. Wheat Associates Fighting Canadian Wheat Dominance in Ecuador

Ecuador’s per capita consumption of wheat foods has rapidly increased in recent years, supported in part by governmental regulations limiting imports of finished products. Over the years, USDA Foreign Agricultural Service cooperator U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) has focused on demonstrating how using flour from U.S. hard red winter (HRW) can improve bread quality while reducing variable costs to build U.S. wheat share of Ecuador’s growing bread flour market.

The main constraint in this segment is a long-held reliance on higher protein Canadian wheat. To demonstrate the value of HRW wheat flour, USW used MAP funds in 2017 to conduct a baking seminar with a large commercial operation in Quito that supplies frozen dough and par-baked dough to fast food chains and the largest supermarket in Ecuador. The USW consultant demonstrated how the bakery could modify its processes using flour with a higher proportion of HRW wheat rather than with straight high-protein Canadian wheat flour and additives. This year, the company reported it has developed new products and will produce sliced bread and hamburger buns using HRW blended flour.

In September 2018, USW held seminars with two other bakeries with similar results. The seminars proved that U.S. HRW wheat flour reduced costs and improved the taste and quality of bread products. Both bakeries are changing their processes to product new products from the HRW blended flour. In 2019, USW also established its first contact with the largest commercial bakery in Ecuador that resulted in an agreement with USW to hold in-plant demonstrations of U.S. wheat flour blends.

To ensure HRW flour is available to those bakeries, USW has also conducted trade servicing and technical support for the largest flour miller in Ecuador. In June 2018, USW invited the main buyer from the premium mill to join a trade team to the United States. As a new employee of the mill, the buyer’s mind was more open to new opportunities and immediately after the trip he purchased a shipment of more than 11,000 metric tons of HRW and, in 2018, U.S. HRW and soft red winter (SRW) wheat made up 80% of the mill’s purchase volume. In 2019/20, under the Agricultural Trade Promotion (ATP) program, USW will start to chip away at the Canadian wheat dominance at a large mill in Ecuador by bringing samples of HRW and in-plant technical support to demonstrate the value of the U.S. alternative.

USW has also expanded its activities with medium-sized mills that produce about 30% of Ecuador’s annual flour production. Since 2016, USW has conducted a variety of activities to help them purchase and process U.S. wheat as efficiently as possible. As a result, U.S. wheat is gaining a foothold, growing from 6.3% of the mid-sized mill purchases in 2017/18 to 15.8% in 2018/19.

Ecuador’s average annual purchase of HRW the past three marketing years is 101,000 metric tons, a significant increase over the three-year average of 46,200 metric tons in 2015/16 and SRW purchases of about 224,800 metric tons in 2018/19.

October 19, 2018/by Erica Oakley

Egypt, flour, Foreign Agricultural Service, Foreign Market Development, GASC, hard red spring, hard red winter, pasta, U.S. wheat, U.S. Wheat Associates, U.S. wheat exports, wheat farmers Hard Red Spring, Hard Red Winter

Pasta Represents New, Growing Opportunity for High-Protein U.S. Wheat in Egypt

The competitive situation in Egypt’s large wheat import market for subsidized bread led USDA Foreign Agricultural Service cooperator U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) to reduce its presence in Egypt in 2017. However, USW has identified a niche opportunity for U.S. hard red spring (HRS) and hard red winter (HRW) in Egypt’s growing demand for pasta.

According to Euromonitor, at an annual value of more than $843 million, Egypt is the world’s seventh largest pasta market and ranks ninth largest in consumption. Because it is popular and affordable, pasta consumption will grow by 5 percent in the next five years Euromonitor predicts. Acceptable quality pasta requires higher protein wheat than Black Sea classes can provide alone, so USW targeted industries and companies interested in sourcing higher quality flours and is investing funds from the Market Access Program (MAP) in trade and technical servicing to encourage those companies to demand quality flour from private flour mills.

For example, USW met with the largest Egyptian pasta manufacturer to demonstrate how to adjust their flour specifications to improve their premium products. USW made recommendations that would target flour from HRS for the company’s long goods pasta products. USW also worked closely with specific milling companies to show how blending U.S. HRW or HRS with Black Sea wheat would help improve the quality of and income from their pasta flour products.

An Egyptian trading company serving these millers purchased 50,000 MT of 12.5% (12% moisture basis) protein HRW in 2018/19 specifically as an ingredient for pasta flour. And while the premium pasta maker did purchase flour produced from Australian wheat to hold down its costs, it worked with its flour supplier to import U.S. HRS in December 2018 and signaled its intention to purchase more HRS.

USW also advised Egypt’s government grain purchasing agency, GASC, to issue a specific tender for 12% protein HRW for the government’s subsidized pasta program, another large potential niche market. GASC is currently testing HRW samples sent by USW through the Quality Samples Program to determine if HRW meets their requirements.

In addition to the 50,000 MT of HRW specifically imported for pasta flour, in marketing year 2018/19 Egypt imported 49,500 MT of HRS, benefiting U.S. farmers in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana, as well as U.S. wheat export supply participants. A trade service visit to Egyptian private sector mills and buyers in April 2019 confirmed they will continue to consider U.S. wheat as an ingredient in their high-quality products, especially pasta.

June 2, 2018/by Erica Oakley

The export market development programs administered by USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service are highly successful partnerships with U.S. farmers, ranchers, dairy producers and small food businesses. U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) and the Washington Grain Commission (WGC) are leveraging that partnership to increase demand for soft white wheat in Guatemala.

Over several years, USW and WGC have worked together to educate decision makers at commercial bakeries and food manufacturers in Latin America about the benefits of low protein soft white (SW) wheat. WGC provides direct funding from its checkoff program and USW uses funding from the Market Access Program (MAP) and Foreign Market Development (FMD) program.

In 2013, USW sent an expert in “premix” consumer bakery products to work with an innovative and growing Guatemalan flour mill and wheat foods company. The consultant helped the company set up a small plant to develop formulations for chocolate and vanilla cake mixes as well as pancake and corn bread mixes using flour from U.S. SW wheat. After extensive quality testing and production refinement, the company has now successfully launched these branded consumer products through a large Guatemalan supermarket chain.

With direct producer funding, USW also worked with WGC to conduct a seminar with the same company designed to show how blending flour from U.S. SW and other wheat classes can improve end-product quality while reducing flour costs compared to competing wheats. Milling consultant Andrea Saturno and USW Technical Specialist Marcelo Mitre demonstrated several different blending proportions and conducted bake tests at the company’s own laboratory. The company continued trials on its own and chose a blend of 50 percent SW and 50 percent U.S. hard red winter (HRW) wheat that it successfully markets as an industrial bread flour.

In addition, the company says its two largest flour customers now purchase SW-based flour to manufacture branded cookie and cracker products. One of the customers recently built a new cookie factory that represents an opportunity for USW to expand its technical assistance.

Such end-user success and growth creates an opportunity to continue expanding annual SW exports to Guatemala of almost 130,000 metric tons per year, valued at more than $25 million, making Guatemala the largest SW volume importer in Latin America. Total U.S. wheat commercial sales to Guatemala in marketing year 2017/18 exceeded 527,000 MT.

May 1, 2018/by Erica Oakley

Noodles are the staple product in South Korea that represent more than 50 percent of Korean wheat food consumption. For many years, manufacturers have preferred Australian wheat to produce noodle flour, and specifically “Australian Noodle Wheat” that helps produce an end product with the color favored by consumers. USDA Foreign Agricultural Service cooperator U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) is addressing the competitive advantage and increasing market share by providing technical service funded by the Market Access Program (MAP) and the Foreign Market Development (FMD) program.

Every year since 2015, the USW Seoul Office conducts a Korean Noodle Flour Development short course at the Wheat Market Center (WMC) in Portland, Ore., and a Noodle Flour Blending Seminar in Seoul to demonstrate the advantages of blending with U.S. wheat.

Representatives from one noodle manufacturer and two mills from Korea attended the 2017 course, where they researched flour blends using an increased percentage of U.S. wheat flour in instant noodle products. The participants concluded that using more U.S. wheat still allowed them to maintain the preferred product color and quality while reducing input costs. Blends include varying percentages of flour from U.S. soft white, hard red spring and hard red winter wheat classes.

In December 2017, USW shared the course results and reviewed quality parameters with Korean noodle manufacturers and flour millers. A highly regarded local expert presented information on quality parameters affecting noodle flour functionality. Because of this, one company said that they intend to use HRS for a new end-product line in 2018. Another company reported that they increased U.S. wheat percentage in their noodle formulation from 50 percent in CY15 to 90 percent in CY17, and is also using U.S. wheat flour in their export product portfolio, which increased by 20,000 metric tons (MT) in CY17. And a third company reported that they also increased U.S. wheat in their blends in CY17, absorbing 10,000 MT of additional U.S. wheat flour. All participants reported that the seminar provided a valuable opportunity to share information on improving noodle quality.

Despite lacking a single U.S. wheat class with optimal noodle quality, USW’s efforts — funded by state wheat commissions, MAP and FMD — have helped secure a 20 percent share of the wheat imported for the Korean noodle market. The top four instant noodle manufacturers in South Korea consistently now use more than 45 percent U.S. wheat, up from less than 25 percent in 2009.

May 1, 2018/by Erica Oakley

The popularity of non-traditional baked goods like chewy breads, cookies and fluffy cakes is rapidly growing in the People’s Republic of China. To help build a preference for flour from U.S. wheat classes among aspiring Chinese baking companies, USDA Foreign Agricultural Service cooperator U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) has expanded its technical capabilities through staffing and an exceptional training activity.

USW hired Dr. Ting Liu in September 2016 as Technical Specialist to provide support and training to demonstrate the performance of U.S. wheat in the new baked goods as well as traditional Chinese wheat based products. Dr. Liu works from USW’s Beijing office and regularly travels across China to provide baking demonstrations, technical seminars and promote practical application of U.S. wheat performance results. Staff administrative expenses for Dr. Liu and her experienced marketing colleagues in China are supported by the Foreign Market Development (FMD) program with development activities funded by the Market Access Program (MAP).

Because there is intense interest in professional baking expertise, especially in scaling up industrial sized operations, USW decided to invest some of its activities funding to send Dr. Liu to the 192nd Baking Science and Technology course at AIB International in Manhattan, Kan., from January through May 2018. This is an internationally respected, 16-week program combining science, hands-on lab work and baking tradition in its course work. With her expertise in food science and cereal chemistry, Dr. Liu was well prepared for this training — but she far exceeded expectations.

Dr. Liu represented herself, USW and the U.S. wheat farmers she represents with distinction, earning honors as the course’s top student and an “Excellence in Laboratory Leadership” award for her participation in the course. Now she will apply this advanced knowledge to effectively stress that flour which performs its intended functions enables Chinese bakers to produce higher quality, better tasting wheat foods, and that U.S. wheat flours are essential ingredients on which bakers can rely for consistent results.

Though China’s centrally planned food and trade policies create substantial barriers to export growth, the increased ability to train the industrial bakeries that must meet consumer demand is pulling in high protein U.S. hard red spring (HRS) and hard red winter (HRW) wheat for bread products and soft white (SW) for cakes and cookies. In marketing years 2016/17 and 2017/18, China imported an average of 843,000 metric tons (MT) of HRS, 163,000 MT of HRW and 318,000 MT of SW per year, valued at about $324 million per year for farmers and wheat supply participants in the Pacific Northwest and Northern Plains.

May 1, 2018/by Erica Oakley

In Taiwan, wheat consumption has steadily grown while rice consumption has declined. The reason, in no small part, is because USDA Foreign Agricultural Service cooperator U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) has provided expertise, guidance and encouragement to accelerate a cultural shift toward consuming more baked goods.

With funding from the Foreign Market Development (FMD) program helping maintain USW staff in Taipei, USW has been a partner to an innovative milling and baking industry for more than 50 years. That has helped USW identify that the public must be enticed by novelty, nutrition and flavor for Taiwanese wheat consumption to continue growing. Higher end baked items from naturally fermented dough, fancier pastries, confections and Japanese style cakes are becoming the focus of ever more sophisticated tastes.

With activity funding from the Market Access Program (MAP), USW has helped its customers in the milling, baking, vocational training, and education sectors to remain competitive by developing novel baked goods that favor the use of flour milled from U.S. hard red spring (HRS), hard red winter (HRW) and soft white (SW) wheat classes.

One example of how USW is helping sustain the growth in wheat foods is a sour dough baking seminar in October 2017, jointly developed and conducted by a Taiwanese flour mill, Chia Nan University and USW, funded in part through MAP. A total of 100 participants from southern Taiwan, including university professors, technology high school teachers, bakers as well as hotel and catering company chefs, attended the day-long seminar. The topics included information about why U.S. HRW and HRS wheat classes provide the correct functional flour performance for sour dough baked goods including white and whole wheat bread, bagels, baguettes, etc. The instructors also showed the advantages of U.S. SW flour in sour dough cream cakes and even cheese corn soup. A survey showed that all participants found value in the seminar and that they would strongly consider developing new sour dough products or incorporate the products into their baking curriculums.

Helping wheat consumption grow is particularly important in a market like Taiwan, which imports about 78 percent of its wheat on average from the United States. Five years ago, in marketing year 2013/14 (June 1 to May 31), Taiwan imported 1.28 million metric tons (MMT), of which 1.05 MMT was U.S. wheat. In 2017/18, Taiwan imported 1.39 MMT, of which 1.14 MMT came from U.S. farmers. U.S. wheat export prices vary by class and from year to year, but in 2017/18, USW invested almost $535,000 in FMD and MAP funding and estimates the total value of our exports to Taiwan in 2017/18 was at least $260 million.

May 1, 2018/by Erica Oakley

Grain Purchasing Course Increases Caribbean Market Demand

Helping Customers See More Value

USW Helps Korean Flour Millers See Value in U.S. Wheat Purchases

Loyalty is Strong

Maintaining Strong Awareness of U.S. Wheat Quality in China

Crop Quality Seminars Create Ideal Environment for South Asian Wheat Export Sales

U.S. Wheat Associates Fighting Canadian Wheat Dominance in Ecuador

Pasta Represents New, Growing Opportunity for High-Protein U.S. Wheat in Egypt

USW Training Achievement Supports Long-Term U.S. Wheat Promotion in China

Working to Increase Wheat Consumption in Taiwan

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