U.S. wheat exports Archives - Page 2 of 2

In 2018/19, U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) earned back a portion of its business in Nigeria through activities supported by funding from USDA/Foreign Agricultural Service Foreign Market Development (FMD) program and Market Access Program (MAP).

In September 2018, U.S. wheat farmers from Kansas, Oklahoma and Arizona traveled to Lagos, Nigeria, as part of a USW Board Team funded in part through FMD. Meetings were held at several flour mills where most managers said the shift will likely continue even though they know by experience that HRW offers consistent performance and usually higher quality milling characteristics than Black Sea wheat.

Taking advantage of the personal visits and with support from USW local and regional representatives at the meetings, the farmers review the advantages of HRW and other U.S. classes and how USW is supporting the industry’s efforts to continue improving HRW milling, baking and processing characteristics. News the farmers shared about exportable supplies of U.S. hard white (HW) wheat grown in Kansas, Colorado and Nebraska sparked much interest from the flour millers.

The benefits of HW include higher flour extraction, whiter color flour and low moisture levels that would help the millers overcome a significant part of the cost differential with Black Sea wheat. Hard white wheat at the time was about the same price as HRW, and the farmers encouraged the millers to consider bidding for some HW. The Team was quick to point out that scaling up HW production to the point at which exportable supplies are consistently available will take a long, sustained effort, but the industry is encouraged by interest in HW and continues to work toward improving milling and processing quality in new varieties.

Flour Mills of Nigeria (FMN), which owns an export elevator in the U.S. Gulf, immediately took advantage of the information shared during the Board Team to purchase U.S. HW. Eventually, FMN imported more than 137,000 MT of HW in marketing year 2018/19. Several other Nigerian mills based on trade servicing activities funded by MAP and more competitive pricing also significantly increased HRW imports by about 311,000 MT in 2018/19 to 1.1 million metric tons. That represents an additional return to farmers in Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska and Texas.

USW continues to use MAP funding to maintain full time technical marketing consultants to represent U.S. wheat farmers and USW in Nigeria. The consultants recommend market development programs for Nigeria, gather marketing statistics and assist in market development activities and logistical support when necessary.

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.

Preparing Nigerian Millers to Import More U.S. Wheat Again

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

Our Story

Market Information

Crop Quality

Working with Buyers

Who We Represent

Policy

News