Montana sellers strike deal with Colombia wheat buyers

Colombia flour mills and beer breweries will be using $1 million worth of Montana-grown wheat and barley, thanks to an agreement with
the Montana Wheat and Barley Commission signed Friday.

By JO DEE BLACK
Tribune Staff Writer

If shipping hurdles can be overcome, the South American country may become an even bigger market for Montana grain.

Colombia Ambassador Luis Alberta Moreno spent the week touring area grain farms and elevators with a delegation of his country’s grain
buyers.

He was here at the invitation of Sen. Max Baucus, who had been in contact with Moreno about pending Trade Promotion Authority
legislation. The comprehensive trade package would expand the Andean Trade Preference Act, which involves agreements with South
American countries, including Colombia.

Montana Wheat and Barley Committee Executive Vice President Jim Christianson said Colombia is a good market for the state’s crop,
because the crop is exactly the quality they already import from other areas.

"They use 12.5 protein wheat and malt barley, which is what we grow here," he said. "We spend years cultivating consumers in other
countries we want to buy our grain."

The cost of transporting the grain to Colombia was Moreno’s only concern. It’s cheaper to send grain via rail to Portland, Ore. than eastern
gulf coasts, the ports Colombia grain buyers traditionally use.

"If that’s the only thing standing on our way, we’ll work it out," Christianson said.

Currently, Colombia buys some grain from Canada, which is shipped by rail to Vancouver, B.C. It’s then shipped by barge to South
America.

Bavaria Inc., a South American-based malting company, agreed to buy about 2,700 bushels of malting barley raised in Montana.

Molinos Santa Marta, a Colombian flour mill and baked-good company, agreed to buy about 220,000 bushels of hard red spring wheat
from Montana.

The agreement also states Colombia Mills Association’s desired to establish long-term grain-buying agreements in Montana.

Christianson said after some grain tests are complete, the Colombian companies will issue a solicitation for bids for the grain purchase.
Then Montana grain companies can present offers to the group.

Mariana Pacheco of the Colombian Embassy said her country produces about 1 million bushels of wheat a year and imports about 49
million bushels annually.

Bavaria buys about 11 million bushels of malting barley a year.

Moreno said he believes the agreement is just the beginning of what will become a stronger trade relationship between Montana’s grain
industry and Colombia.

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20020720/localnews/264500.html