Exports to Viet Nam, the fourth biggest market for DDGS, rose 11 per cent between January and August 2011. According to Adel Yusupov, USGC director in Southeast Asia, construction of new feedmill plants in the Ha Duong and Bac Giang provinces will move forward later this year. Plans for expanding the Vietnamese swine and poultry industry using advanced breeding techniques also suggest that an increased demand for feed grain will follow.

"The region is growing increasingly dependent on feed grain imports amid declining domestic crop production and burgeoning feed demand," commented Mr Yusupov.

Increased DDGS exports to Malaysia and the Philippines have also been noteworthy, up 99 per cent and 50 per cent respectively from last year. Thailand’s imports are down 13 per cent due to an abundant supply of soybean meal in the market.

The Council-led DDGS Technical Service meetings in the Philippines and Thailand have educated local buyers on the nutritional value and use of DDGS as a low-cost feed ingredient. Numerous regional seminars have targeted key audiences, including major dairy farms and feed milling companies, to provide information on US DDGS production quality.

The Council has also been actively involved in trade policy issues. For example, the Council in collaboration with FAS-Bangkok worked to delay a regulation the Thai government planned to impose on protein levels in DDGS imports, thereby maintaining market access for US producers.