The 2012 Export Exchange is coming up next week in Minneapolis, the second event of its kind co-sponsored by the U.S. Grains Council and the Renewable Fuels Association to bring together buyers and sellers of grains and livestock feed, including the ethanol by-product distillers dried grains with solubles or DDGS.

“The Export Exchange is a fabulous opportunity for customers to get together with suppliers internationally,” says RFA president and CEO Bob Dinneen. “We’ll have more than 300 countries represented. There will be users of distillers dried grains from China to Europe to South America. Just about every ethanol producer – or I should say DDGS producer – will be in attendance.”

RFA VP of Research and Analysis Geoff Cooper says about 25% of the distillers grains that have been produced by U.S. ethanol plants in the last several years has been exported. “Last year we shipped distillers grains to more than 50 countries, so it’s really become a huge component of the global feed market,” he said, noting that if the supply of distillers grains was a nation’s corn crop, it would rank as the fourth largest in the world behind the U.S., Brazil and China.

While DDGS output has decreased this year as ethanol production has slowed down as a result of the drought, Cooper says we are still seeing very strong demand for distillers grains because it is priced lower than corn but provides more nutrition and energy value for livestock and poultry.

Domestic Fuel reporter Jamie Johansen will be covering the event and she interviewed both Dinneen and Cooper for a preview. Listen to or download those back to back interviews here: Export Exchange Preview