US Grains Council sees Cuba as major market for DDGS exports

In Washington, the US Grains Council says that coarse grains exports could increase dramatically if United States-Cuba diplomatic relations are fully normalized, with the island nation having the potential to become the 12th largest market for U.S. corn if trade is truly open.

The United States has sold corn to Cuba each marketing year since the early 2000s and distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) since 2005. U.S. corn market share has varied, running as high as 100 percent in the 2007/2008 marketing year but as low as 15 percent in recent years due to regulatory changes that made achieving financing more challenging. U.S. DDGS market share in Cuba is at or near 100 percent. Overall, the market takes about 900,000 metric tons (35.4 million bushels) of corn each year has taken up to 150,000 tons of DDGS annually.