This week, the first ever commercial shipment of U.S.-grown rice was unloaded in China at the port of Xiamen, following more than a decade of regulatory and political effort by USA Rice to establish a two-way trading relationship with the nation.
The premium, medium grain Calrose rice was grown in California and sold by ADM Rice, Inc. to the privately-owned Chinese retailer Sungiven.
China is the world's largest rice producer and consumer, and only second to the Philippines in global rice imports.
Last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) Report projected that China would consume more than 146 million MT of rice this year, dwarfing the 4.6 million MT estimated for consumption by Americans.
A reverse trade mission for Chinese importers hosted by USA Rice that visited Arkansas, Louisiana, and California in December 2019 helped lead to this sale and eventual shipment.
