The second-largest importer of corn in the Mediterranean, second only to Egypt, Algeria imported approximately 2 million metric tons (78.7 million bushels) in 2008.

According to Kurt Shultz, USGC director in the Mediterranean and Africa, about 90 per cent of the corn imported is utilized for feed in the poultry industry. The Council recently partnered with ONAB, the government-owned, single largest poultry producing entity, to conduct feeding trials on the inclusion of distiller's dried grains with solubles (DDGS) in broiler diets.

"The purpose of the trial was twofold," said Mr Shultz, "first to introduce the product (DDGS) to the market; and the much larger picture is to reduce the duties to make it more competitive with other feed grains in the marketplace." The Algerian government imposes no duties on the import of corn.

However, DDGS is taxed at a rate of 30 per cent per ton. The feeding trial was conducted at a broiler production site belonging to ONAB. The 2,200 broilers included in the trial were separated into four control groups, with the DDGS inclusion rate varying based on the growth stages.

Upon conclusion of the trial, it was determined that a 10 per cent DDGS inclusion rate will maintain the performance of the broilers when compared to performance of chickens on the traditional ration. The Council will conduct a national seminar to present the results of this trial, in addition to two other DDGS feeding trials for inclusion rates in dairy and beef rations, later this year, prior to the Algerian government announcing import duties for the coming year.

Assuming the Algerian government will respond to requests by both the private sector and ONAB to remove the import duties, Mr Shultz estimates the poultry sector could potentially import up to 200,000 tons of US DDGS per year within the next five years, with potential for further growth. "Through confidence building and market education, the Algerian poultry industry is a place where we can expect to see immediate growth in US DDGS imports," said Mr Shultz.