As questions circulate about the quality and supply of South American wheat, the 33rd Abitrigo International Wheat Industry Congress provided an important opportunity for U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) to engage directly with the Brazilian wheat industry and reinforce the value of U.S. wheat in flour blends.
More than 600 flour millers, bakers, government officials and industry suppliers attended the conference in Rio de Janeiro, making it one of the region’s most influential wheat industry gatherings.
Mike Spier, USW president and CEO, joined Miguel Galdos, USW regional director for South America, Claudia Gomez, USW regional marketing manager and Oscar Garavaglia, USW Brazilian consultant, at the event. Together, the team met with millers and industry leaders to discuss crop quality, market conditions and how U.S. wheat can help customers meet their milling and baking needs.
“The timing of our meetings could not have been better, as Brazil is expected to need to important substantial high-quality wheat to blend with lower-quality supplies from their harvest and Argentine wheat,” Spier said. “Our team has strong relationships with Brazilian buyers and Oscar is working with Brazilian mills every day. We shared U.S. wheat crop quality data and how U.S. wheat fits blending needs this year.”
One key message from the USW team was encouraging Brazilian millers to look beyond wheat prices to the overall value and performance of flour blends. Millers have discussed quality concerns with new-crop Brazilian and Argentine wheat and flour improvers can cost up to $40 per metric ton. The USW team discussed how high-quality U.S. hard red winter (HRW) wheat and other U.S. wheat classes can enhance quality in a blend, particularly when the local or regional wheat presents variability in protein, milling performance or baking functionality.
“The opportunity is not necessarily to replace local or regional wheat, but to demonstrate how U.S. wheat can complement it and help millers achieve more consistent flour quality and end-use performance,” Gomez said. “Rather than comparing wheat prices alone, the economics can consider the total value of the blend, including flour consistency, milling and baking performance and potentially the cost of corrective ingredients such as flour improvers.”
Beyond these discussions and the formal program, Abitrigo also provided the USW team direct access to many key decision-makers in South America, including ABIP’s new leadership, milling executives, traders, government representatives and industry leadership. These conversations helped strengthen existing relationships while providing first-hand market intelligence.
“For U.S. wheat farmers, this type of engagement is important because Brazil remains a highly competitive and price-sensitive market,” Spier said. “At the same time, our conversations reinforced that quality consistency, technical functionality and reliable supply remain important considerations for millers, particularly when they need to improve the performance of local or regional wheat.”