USSEC organized and hosted a Southeast Asia (SEA) trade delegation made up of importers and end-users of agricultural products from August 28 to September 8, 2016 in the United States. This mission resulted in trades and negotations of more than $125 million in U.S. ag products.

The main highlight of the mission was the 2016 U.S. Soy Global Trade Exchange in Indianapolis, Indiana on August 30 and September 1. Throughout the course of the 12-day visit, besides participating in the conference and meeting with U.S. producers and suppliers, participants also had the opportunity to experience firsthand farming operations, grain storage facilities, oilseed crushing plants, transloading and port facilicities, and, in the process, interact and network with U.S. Soy producers, U.S. suppliers and service providers along the U.S. soy supply chain such as loadport surveyors, among others.
The trade mission, led by USSEC’s SEA representatives, was comprised of 57 executives representing 45 companies from Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The SEA delegation, divided into two separate teams according to their purpose and use of soy products, included senior agricultural industry executives, owners, and directors from trading, crushing, feed milling, livestock-raising, and food processing companies and associations.

In addition to attending the U.S. Soy Global Trade Exchange in Indianapolis, the SEA (feed) team also participated in the Indiana Field Day event on September 2 where they toured the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and visited with major grain company Bunge, Integrity Biofuels, and the Reichenbach Farm.

Meanwhile, the SEA (food) team members traveled toward Cincinnati, Ohio to continue with their program, which included visits with U.S. exporters Ceres Commodities, Bluegrass Farms, and Rogers Grain Inc. While passing through Kentucky and Tennessee, the feed team visited with Ray Mackey on his farm, enjoyed a lunch hosted by the Kentucky Soybean Board, and met with Glen Hutchinson on his farm.

In Nashville, Tennessee, the feed team was further divided into two teams with one group landing in Norfolk, Virginia, while the other group continued on to New Orleans. The program in Norfolk included meetings with Lansing Trade Group, Perdue Agribusiness, the North Carolina Department of Agriculture, Federal Grain Inspection Service and local farming operations – Batemans, Pendleton, and Moore Farms. In New Orleans, the team visited Thionville Labs, CHS Inc., Bunge, and the Russell Marine Group.

This year’s SEA trade mission was well-received by both team members and U.S. growers, U.S. companies, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and other ag-organizations that hosted the groups on location and shared their time and expertise to the benefit of the U.S. agricultural industry. Through the support and effort provided by USSEC and the entire U.S. Soy family, the U.S. Soy Advantage message was well-communicated throughout this mission.
Based on written feedback from the SEA trade team, over 350,000 metric tons of U.S. agricultural products with an estimated value of $125 million USD were negotiated and/or traded throughout the course of this mission.