Wheat Trade Team from Korea Visits Colorado
June 23, 2011, Fort Collins, Colo. – The Colorado Wheat Administrative Committee (CWAC) hosted a trade team of wheat buyers representing ninety percent of U.S. wheat exported to Korea in the 2010-11 marketing year on a visit to Colorado.
On June 20 they were briefed on Colorado wheat production and quality by CWAC Executive Director Darrell Hanavan, and on the Colorado State University (CSU) wheat breeding program by CSU Wheat Breeder Dr. Scott Haley. They then toured the CSU wheat breeding greenhouse and wheat quality lab.
The trade team toured Linnebur Farms near Watkins to see hard red and hard white winter wheat production, and then visited the Cargill AgHorizons unit train loading facility in Byers on June 21st, as well as touring the ConAgra Flour Milling Company and Commerce City Grain unit train loading facility in Commerce City, Colo.
Kyung-Yong Park, General Manager of CJ CheilJedang Corporation, said the most important part of the trip to him was networking with those involved with the wheat supply chain in Colorado.
“I appreciate the chance to meet the people,” Park said.
Park also stated that he was concerned about the current wheat crop this spring, hearing about the drought in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and even Colorado, “But it is good to hear and see that Colorado is improving, that makes me feel better about this year’s crop,” he said.
CWAC Vice President Tom Neira, who farms near Bennett, said that it is important for trade teams visit Colorado to learn about the quality of our wheat, and to establish connections with the wheat buyers.
“You have the opportunity to build lifelong personal relationships with the trade team members,” Neira said.
Korea was the sixth largest U.S. wheat buyer in the world with purchases of 60.3 million bushels of wheat in the recently completed 2010-11 marketing year. Yet, U.S. wheat producers face stiff competition in this market from Australia and Canada. The pending U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS) is an important opportunity to help the U.S. wheat industry maintain or grow the Korean market in an increasingly competitive trade environment. Australia and Korea finished a fifth round of bilateral trade negotiations in May 2010. Canada is negotiating a free trade agreement with Korea and another wheat exporter, the European Union, signed an agreement with Korea that is expected to be in full force by July 1. KORUS would eliminate the duty on U.S. wheat imports, which would reduce the price and allow U.S. producers to compete with cheaper sourced imports and maintain a dominant market share.
The trade team consisted of: USWA Senior Technical Marketing Specialist Woojoon Park; Dong-Chan Bae, agri-commodity procurement general manager, Samyang Milmax Corp.; Jae-Wook Hwang, purchasing manager, DongA One Corp., Jin-Ug Oh, assistant sales and marketing manager, Samhwa Flour Mills Co., Ltd.; Yang-Jin Park, deputy senior business manager, Daehan Flour Mills Co., Ltd; and Kyung-Yong Park, general sales manager, CJ CheilJedang Corp. The fact finding tour was sponsored by USWA, of which CWAC is a member, and the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS).
The Korean Trade Team visits Linnebur Farms near Watkins in Adams county. From left to right: Mark Linnebur, Colorado Association of Wheat Growers secretary-treasurer, Byers; USWA Senior Technical Marketing Specialist Woojoon Park; Yang-Jin Park, deputy senior business manager, Daehan Flour Mills Co. Ltd.; Dong-Chan Bae, agri-commodity procurement general manager, Samyang Milmax Corp.; Kyung-Yong Park, general manager, CJ CheilJedang Corp.; Jin-Ug Oh, assistant sales and marketing manager, Samhwa Flour Mills Co., Ltd.; Tom Neira, CWAC vice president, Bennet; Jae-Wook Hwang, purchasing manager, DongA One Corp.; and Darrell Hanavan, executive director of Colorado Wheat.
The Korean trade team tours the elevator and unit train loading facility at Cargill-Byers.
