USA Rice Millers' Association Chair Keith Gray (left) and CNAGS' Zhi Ren
May 17, 2019
WASHINGTON, DC – This week, USA Rice hosted a team of rice traders, academics, and staff from the China National Association of the Grain Sector (CNAGS) who were in the United States visiting mills approved by the Chinese government as potential exporters of U.S. rice to China. Led by Zhi Ren, executive vice president at CNAGS, the self-funded team had requested USA Rice assistance in coordinating the schedule during their week in U.S. rice country.
California was the first stop on the team’s U.S. tour. They went to three mills there -- Sun Valley Rice, American Commodity Company, and Farmers Rice Cooperative -- and attended a reception hosted by the California Rice Commission. Next, the team traveled to Texas where they toured the U.S. Rice Producers Association (USRPA) headquarters and the Riviana Foods rice facility in Freeport, and enjoyed a Texas barbeque lunch. The last stop was Washington, DC, where they met with USA Rice staff to discuss areas of collaboration including consumption research in the domestic Chinese market and an invitation to their annual forum in October.
The team also was scheduled to visit two mills in Arkansas, but that leg of their trip was cancelled due to government of China regulations on the length of time certain individuals may travel internationally.
“When the tariff war is successfully navigated, we are likely to see many more of these teams and/or individual companies from China coming to the U.S. to learn more about the industry and deciding whether they want to import U.S. rice to China,” said Sarah Moran, USA Rice vice president international.
In the coming months, USA Rice is scheduled to host three seminars in China about the logistics of the pending rice trade as well as a reverse trade mission where Chinese importers will travel to the U.S. to meet with prospective trading partners here.