Global grains
Jan 25, 2021
LONDON, UK – Last week, more than two dozen international delegations and supporting organizations met virtually as part of the 52nd Council Session of the International Grains Council (IGC). USA Rice was represented by vice president of international trade policy Peter Bachmann, who participated in the meetings as a private sector advisor to the U.S. delegation.
The session covered market situation and outlook reports for rice, wheat, corn, and soybeans and included statements from member organizations and delegations on the impact of COVID-19 on trade. The Council reports that rice trade in 2021 is forecast to expand by 5 percent over 2020 with India remaining the world’s leading exporter.
The day prior to the Council Session meetings, USA Rice participated in the Council-sponsored virtual grains forum on utilizing digitization as a trade facilitation tool for the grains sector. Presentations were given by representatives of the private sector, international organizations including the World Trade Organization, and international governments.
“Ahead of the more widely attended IGC Conference scheduled in June, this meeting was a great early 2021 check-in for our grain sector to take a look at world production and trade updates, especially given the addition of COVID-19 impacts to the balance sheets,” said Bachmann.
One of the primary impacts of the pandemic, according to the IGC, has been the firming up of world grain and oilseed prices and the associated freight costs, climbing to multi-month highs, and global container shortages for exports.
“The Council’s grain forum on Thursday was critical to drawing attention to the need for increased adoption of digital trade facilitation tools, like electronic phytosanitary certificates (e-phyto) to reduce cost, and improve efficiency of moving shipments while still maintaining accountability,” said Bachmann. “The U.S. is pretty open-minded about embracing these newer technologies, but they are only truly effective if they’re more universally accepted by our customers. This forum hopefully helped open some eyes for the folks overseas that monitor their country’s sanitary and phytosanitary regulatory regimes.”
The IGC is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to further international cooperation in grains trade; promote expansion, openness, and fairness in the grains sector; and contribute to grain market stability and to enhance world food security.