USSEC recently participated in feed association assemblies in several European cities.
The France Feed Association (SNIA) was the first meeting that USSEC attended. The conference was held in Brussels on May 28. In the current marketing year, France has imported 150,000 metric tons (MT) of U.S. Soy. The main focus of SNIA’s main meeting was innovation.
On June 19, Spain’s feed industry conducted its assembly in Galicia, where USSEC spoke about sustainability and provided an introduction to soybeans and the soybean meal market. This marketing year, Spain has imported 1.141 million metric tons (MMT) of U.S. Soy.

A delegation of U.S. farmers attended the Spanish Feed Association Assembly in Madrid on June 24 where they had the opportunity to meet Spanish market representatives, soybean meal consumers and suppliers. United Soybean Board (USB) director Larry Marek and Ohio Soybean Council members Jeff Magyar and Bill Bayliss participated in this meeting.
The group participated in the Italian Feed Association (Assalzoo) Assembly on June 25. This assembly brought together more than 80 percent of the Italian market. Italy has imported 296,000 MT of U.S. Soy this marketing year. Mr. Marek presented a talk on the sustainability of U.S. soybeans; attendees appreciated his presentation and asked questions about sustainability as well as GMO matters. In Italy, GMOs are an important issue because all EU countries may have to make a decision about if they import GMO products or not. Realistically, the European feed and meat industry cannot continue to thrive without these imports.

On June 30, the group attended the Romanian Feed Association meeting. Mr. Marek once again gave a presentation related to sustainability and GMO production and USSEC consultant Lola Herrera presented another related to soybeans and the soybean meal market.
In addition to its participation in the assemblies, the USSEC group visited feed and meat industry representatives in Spain, Italy and Romania, as well as FAS in Madrid and Rome. The representatives commented in these meetings that they appreciated USSEC’s introduction to the EU market and recognize the task USSEC is doing in the area. The EU market contains many highly competitive opportunities for U.S. Soy. In the current marketing year, the U.S. has exported 5.32 MMT of soy to the EU market.