Brazilian Plants Cleared to Export Sorghum, Distillers Grains to China

By Andre Romani and Roberto Samora

SAO PAULO, Nov. 10 (Reuters) – Brazil has received its first approvals to export sorghum and dried distillers grains (DDG) to China, the Brazilian Agriculture Ministry said on Monday.

China gave the green light for 10 Brazilian plants to export sorghum, while five were cleared to ship corn-based DDG and DDG with solubles (DDGS), which are used as animal feed, to the Asian country, the ministry said in a statement.

China is Brazil’s top soybean buyer and has been seeking to diversify both animal feed ingredients and sourcing after a trade dispute with the United States curbed U.S. sorghum shipments to the Chinese market this year.

China accounts for more than 80% of global sorghum imports, which totaled more than $2.6 billion last year, the ministry said.

“With these authorizations, Brazil now has a regular channel for shipments to the world’s largest importer of grains and feed inputs, improving contract predictability and creating room to increase export volumes in coming harvests,” the ministry added.

Production of DDG, or corn meal — a key animal feed ingredient — is expected to rise in Brazil as corn ethanol output grows. Production of corn ethanol is forecast to increase 22.6% in the current 2025/26 season, according to Brazil’s crop agency Conab.

Brazil exported more than 790,000 metric tons of corn meal in 2024, up from 600,000 tons in 2023, according to the agriculture ministry. Vietnam is the main destination for Brazilian shipments.

The export clearance follows the Protocol on Proteins and Grain Derivatives from the Corn Ethanol Industry signed in May and the completion of phytosanitary certificate models agreed upon by authorities in both countries.

The first Brazilian sorghum shipments to China could be loaded later this year, a Brazilian Agriculture Ministry official told Reuters in September after a Chinese delegation visited sorghum producers in early August.

Brazil’s sorghum output is projected to grow 8.4% in 2025/26 to 6.6 million tons, Conab estimates, after strong gains in recent years. But exports totaled only 200,000 tons last year, ministry data show. Sorghum can also be used as feedstock for grain-based ethanol production.

(Reporting by Andre Romani and Roberto Samora; Writing by Oliver Griffin; Editing by Kylie Madry and Aurora Ellis)