Sinoma is a state-owned commodities importer, originally focused on construction materials. As the market for feed ingredients has boomed, Sinoma approached ATO to help them identify and source feed ingredients to sell to their customers. In the course of working together, Sinoma has become not only a major buyer, but an advocate for new products to supply China’s burgeoning animal husbandry sector.
Sinoma initially approached ATO seeking to identify potential suppliers for feed ingredients. During the conversation, the company identified rice bran as a feed ingredient popular in China that they were interested in sourcing. At that time, rice bran was not eligible for import. ATO worked with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) office in Beijing to get the market access process started. During this process, which requires extensive exchange between the quarantine services of both countries, Sinoma acted as an advocate on the China side, something often lacking in these exchanges. Once access was granted, ATO connected Sinoma with U.S. rice industry cooperator groups to identify sources of supply.
Since then, ATO has continued to work with Sinoma and USDA cooperators to identify suppliers of a wide range of products, including whey, alfalfa and DDGS. Most recently, ATO connected Sinoma to the Sugarbeet Association and APHIS to begin the process of creating access for sugarbeet pulp. Sinoma’s total purchases of U.S. feed ingredients this year reached $83 million, including $8.6 million in rice bran.
