Export Demand For U.S. Sorghum Out-Strips Available Supply

Mar 02, 2015

High demand has the nation's sorghum crop in short supply. China has moved into the market and they are buying a lot of the grain sorghum. United Sorghum Checkoff Program Executive Director Florentino Lopez said they continue to purchase up all of the sorghum that is available from the U.S.

"They've been really buying over the last 24 months, they have continued to buy not only for this marketing year but have already started making some purchases for the next marketing year,” Lopez said.

Lopez said that has been amazing to see how much sorghum is really moving into the Chinese marketplace today. A lot of the demand simply comes from China's need for grain with their growing livestock industry. Lopez the U.S. Foreign Ag Service has report that roughly 10 - 14 million metric tons are going to necessary to sustain their livestock production today. With China not accepting some U.S. genetically modified crops, that has created some added demand for sorghum. China’s trade policy also treats sorghum more favorably than corn.

"We see that as a particular advantage to the producer today in trying to help them really increase their profitability overall," Lopez said.

With this high demand from China, that is tightening U.S. sorghum supplies. Lopez said they have to communicate that message to their other sorghum customers. In the U.S. that includes demand for sorghum from ethanol plants in Kansas and Texas, along with demand for sorghum from the livestock sector as a feed source. As demand exceeds supply, the price of sorghum has reacted in going higher. In looking at the 2015 crop year, Lopez would like to see consistent growth, as that is more desirable than a big boost in acres causing prices to fall. He said they aim to match both supply and demand.

Sorghum is also a growing ingredient for human consumption. Lopez said there are so many available products out there with a lot of large companies that are producing products with sorghum such as cereals, beer or alcoholic beverage products, bread, flour among many others.

“There are so many companies that are involved now that are directly impacting consumer level decisions in having them be more aware of sorghum and fitting into that unique product line that could satisfy their kitchen needs and family needs in the future,” Lopez said.

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