A 19-member team of South Korean feed and food corn buyers traveled through Nebraska, Kansas and Washington last week to meet with U.S. corn suppliers and examine the country’s grain export system.
The U.S. Grains & BioProducts Council organized the tour to strengthen business relationships and demonstrate the quality of American corn. Haksoo Kim, the council’s director in South Korea, led the delegation.
“U.S. corn accounted for more than two-thirds of South Korea’s corn imports in 2025 and has captured more than 80% of the market so far this year,” Kim said. “Despite the strong market share, Korean buyers remain highly sensitive not only to price competitiveness but also to quality, particularly broken corn and foreign material and moisture content.”
The team visited Chief Ethanol and CPI Hastings Elevator in Nebraska to observe distiller’s dried grains with solubles production and corn transportation through the supply chain. They also toured local farms to see the current crop and met with Nebraska Corn Board representatives.
In Kansas, participants attended a session led by Darrell Holaday of Country Futures on changing market trends and grain hedging strategies. The delegation examined corn crop conditions at Nunemaker Farm and learned about corn’s role in livestock production.
The tour concluded in Washington with visits to DeLong’s container transloading facility in Edgerton and the EGT export terminal in Longview, where the team reviewed grain quality control and shipment trends at Pacific Northwest ports.
Kim said continued quality monitoring remains essential to maintaining U.S. corn’s position in the Korean market.
