Most Valuable US Food Export Is Corn

Japan & Mexico Leading Countries for American Corn Imports

Jul 26, 2008
Daniel Workman

American corn is a top grain export worldwide - xandert@cableone.net (morguefile 147860)

The United States exported US$11.2 billion worth of corn in 2007, up 36.2% from 2006 on strong demand from 60 countries around the globe.

American exports of corn – a grain that is often incorrectly called a vegetable – are growing almost 3 times faster than the overall average percentage increase for all American exports.

The rise in corn exports continues despite the fact that maize is proving to be a viable alternative energy source for crude oil, a commodity on which the U.S. economy has become over-dependent.

The analysis below lists the countries that imported the most corn from the U.S. in 2007.

Top 20 Countries for US Corn Exports

The following countries accounted for 84% of the US$11.2 billion in American corn exports last year.

Japan … US$2.6 billion (23.6% of total US corn exports)
Mexico … $2.1 billion (18.7%)
South Korea … $830 million (7.4%)
Taiwan … $793.1 million (7.1%)
Egypt … $662.8 million (5.9%)
Colombia … $557.7 million ( 5%)
Canada … $494.8 million (4.4%)
Israel … $169 million (1.5%)
Morocco … $156.2 million (1.4%)
Turkey … $154.8 million (1.4%)
Saudi Arabia … $147.9 million (1.3%)
Chile … $94.9 million (0.8%)
Venezuela … $91.3 million (0.8%)
Ecuador … $91 million (0.8%)
Indonesia … $88.8 million (0.8%)
Peru … $70.9 million (0.6%)
Panama … $62.2 million (0.6%)
Malaysia … $59.9 million (0.5%)
Spain … $54.3 million (0.5%)
Ireland … $51.2 million (0.5%).

The only countries from the above list that decreased their imports of American corn in 2007 were Spain (down 13.9%), Ireland (down 14.5%) and Indonesia (down 46.3%).

Fastest-Growing Markets for US Corn

Listed below are countries that imported more than $1 million in American corn during 2007 and that had double-digit increases from the prior year. Among the larger corn importers, Egypt and Mexico had the highest percentage gains in corn imports from 2006.

Venezuela … US$91,311 (up 937% from 2006)
Turkey … $154.8 million (up 461.3%)
Malaysia … $59.9 million (up 174%)
Philippines … $6.6 million (up 170.5%)
Saudi Arabia … $147.9 million (up 134.2%)
Russia … $11.1 million (up 130.6%)
Ecuador … $91 million (up 81.1%)
Panama … $62.2 million (up 78.1%)
Lebanon … $40 million (up 78%)
Canada … $494.8 million (up 72.8%)
Peru … $70.9 million (up 59.6%)
China … $12.9 million (up 56.2%)
Vietnam … $11.7 million (up 50.7%)
Australia … $6.8 million (up 48.5%)
Colombia … $557.7 million (up 45.2%)
Egypt … $662.8 million (up 39.2%)
Mexico … $2.1 billion (up 36.2%)
Israel … $169 million (up 35.7%)
Japan … $2.6 billion (up 33.9%)
Taiwan … $793.1 million (up 26.7%)
Morocco … $156.2 million (up 23.8%)
Chile … $94.9 million (up 16.8%)
New Zealand … $2.2 million (up 16.5%)
United Arab Emirates … $13.1 million (up 15.5%)
South Korea … $830 million (up 14.3%)
India … $1.1 million (up 14.3%).

Sources

This analysis is based on latest statistics from the US Census Bureau - Foreign Trade Statistics and CIA World Factbook as of the date of article publication.