WASHINGTON, D.C., December 13, 2007 Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) recently held its Simultaneous Buy and Sell (SBS) program for food and feed barley. U.S. barley producers received the largest market share of both food and feed barley, due in large part to U.S. Grains Council programs, according to Cary Sifferath, USGC director inJapan. Sifferath said this is only the second tender for food barley, but notes significant growth from the first-ever tender held in May. Specifically, the second food barley tender amounted to 3,280 metric tons with 1,850 metric tons imported from theUnited States, compared to 420 metric tons on May 31, 2007. The U.S. acquired 56 percent of the total food barley tender.
We know the 1,850 tons of U.S. barley was the high beta-glucan food barley variety, Salute, grown in Idaho under contract specifically for the Japanese market in the United States this year, he said. It is expected that the U.S. food barley will be shipped in mid-December in containers for a late January or early February arrival here in Japan. The total amount of U.S. food barley will go to three different food barley processors.
While food barley is a relatively new concept in terms of the SBS program, Japan has been using SBS for feed barley imports since 1999. The sixth SBS feed barley tender for 2007 was held Dec. 5, 2007. The actual tendered quantities were 249,875 tons of feed barley. Based on conversations with Japanese trade and the Council’s Tokyo office, it is estimated that 132,000 tons were U.S. origin feed barley, giving the United States approximately 53 percent of the total tender purchases by Japanese buying groups. Australia, Canada and China are all players in the SBS tender.
The U.S. Grains Council is once again very pleased to see these results for U.S. barley. For the fifth tender in a row, we have seen Chinese barley sell, with an estimated total of 9,875 tons, said Sifferath. It will be interesting to see if China continues to supply small amounts of feed barley within the SBS tenders as we move into 2008. Australia came back into the Japanese market with an estimated 20,000 tons in this tender after being shut out of the last tender. The future looks good for U.S. barley producers.
In looking at all six of the SBS feed barley tenders in 2007, USGC/Tokyo estimates that 490,010 tons of U.S. feed barley was sold accounting for around 44 percent of all feed barley purchased within the SBS feed barley tenders of 2007. The first SBS feed barley tender of 2008 should take place sometime in February. Sifferath said U.S. barley growers working with the Council are responsible for the increased interest in U.S. barley.
There is no doubt that this sale would not have taken place without the coordinated hard work of the Council and our barley members, especially those participating in the council’s Barley Mission Nov. 3-10. The team met with the Japan Food Barley Council, Hakubaku Company, Ltd. and Grain Importers Association, as well as MAFF, which attributed greatly to these SBS tenders, said Sifferath, adding that mission members included Dan Mader, Idaho Barley Commission; Frank Schoonover, Montana Wheat & Barley Committee; Richard Groven, North Dakota Barley Council and Asia A-Team member; and Jason Echelbarger, Washington Barley Commission.
