USSEC, together with the U.S. Grains Council (USGC), recently organized the 10^th annual Southeast Asia U.S. Agricultural Cooperators Conference (USACC).  This year’s conference theme, “Managing Asian Agribusiness in the 21^st Century,” focused on delivering trade and market perspectives and addressed the opportunities and challenges that the agricultural community currently faces such as price volatility, transportation and logistic concerns, China’s economic situation and the global financial outlook.  Over 100 importers and suppliers representing 55 major companies involved in feed ingredient import and distribution, integrated food and feed operations, poultry and livestock production, oilseed crushing, port and logistics management, raw feed ingredient supply as well as other ag-related associations and businesses converged at the Esplanade Hotel Fremantle in Perth, Australia.

USSEC CEO Jim Sutter opened the conference and USSEC Chairman Randy Mann gave the participants a U.S. soy producer’s perspective on “U.S. Soybean Crop Quality and Achieving Sustainability in U.S. Agriculture.”  Other U.S. soy grower leaders who participated in the conference were USB directors Sharon Covert and Daniel Corcoran, and ASA director Jim Miller.
Every year, the USACC series receives excellent financial support from the industry, and this year’s contribution reached a new record.  Based on participants’ written evaluations, approximately 420,000 metric tons of U.S. agricultural products were bought, sold and or negotiated – over $159 million in value based on current nearby CME futures.   Roughly 112,000 metric tons of U.S. soybeans and 85,000 metric tons of U.S. soybean meal were transacted at this event, once again reinforcing the USACC’s reputation as the undisputed main agricultural event of the season in Southeast Asia.