Five commodity/feedstuffs traders and manufacturers from Poland and Czech Republic were among the hundreds of customers from around the world who came to the U.S. in early September for the U.S. Soy Global Trade Exchange in Minneapolis.
USSEC Technical Director – Northeast Europe Jerzy Kosieradzki accompanied this team, which was excited by  its visit to the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT). For Michal Hadasik, Pawel Dulacz, Krzysztof Ulas and Jakub Jan Agas, who purchase grains and soybean meal on a daily basis, their time spent at the capital of global commodity trade and the opportunity to meet with the brokers in person was of great importance.. It was equally significant for Marek Kumprecht, a livestock nutrition and compound feed production specialist at DeHeus in the Czech Republic, but for other reasons: it was his introduction to the price discovery mechanism and risk management, which would help him in his new top managerial job at his company.
All of them, like many other international visitors, enjoyed visiting Minnesota soybean farms, where they not only appreciated the farm families’ hospitality, but they also enjoyed having the opportunity to hear first-hand accounts of how U.S. Soy sustainability works at the farm level. Combining the theory on sustainability presented on and discussed at the Global Trade Exchange’s breakout sessions and at the trade show with the practical daily reality for an average U.S. corn and soybean grower was of special importance to the visitors and resulted in more trust in the U.S. products.
This year’s U.S. Soy Global Trade Exchange was exceptionally well received by USSEC’s Northeast European customers. All of them agreed that the event offered a wide variety of subjects and every participant could find plenty of solid information for himself/herself.
Mr. Kosieradzki shared, “It was obvious for me that my customers would appreciate the keynote on the outlook for global economy and international trade, but I was truly surprised when my whole group decided to attend the session on soymeal quality by origin by Dr. H. Stein, University of Illinois, and they truly valued this newly acquired knowledge very highly. It is great for the commodity traders to listen information on this important topic!”
“The Northeast European customers also established or renewed a multitude of contacts during their very busy week in the U.S., which was an important added bonus for them,” concluded Mr. Kosieradzki.