Mexico: A Wow Market for U.S. Farmers

By Mike Deering, director of communications

In 2002, the U.S. Grains Council's international directors projected which markets would likely grow by a million metric tons. This year at the Council's international staff conference, we are looking back to see what growth transpired and making new projections for the coming years. One success is Mexico. We made it! We did it! U.S. coarse grain exports grew and are going to continue to grow.

Mexico is the second-largest market for U.S. corn, and the largest for U.S. sorghum and distiller's dried grains with solubles.

The big growth in Mexico is coming from the poultry industry. According to USGC Director in Mexico and Central America Julio Hernandez, Mexico's poultry sector in 2002 consumed 7.4 million metric tons of U.S. feed grains. By 2006, the poultry sector increased their imports of U.S. corn by another million tons (39.4 million bushels). Julio expects the poultry sector to consume another million tons of U.S. grain by 2011.

He expects the swine sector to increase U.S. corn imports by 2012 and projects the dairy industry to increase their U.S. corn imports by a million tons (39.4 million bushels) by 2010.

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