USA – The U.S. Grains Council has added staff and promoted others in its Asian, Latin American and African operations as part of a global resource expansion meant to capture near-term demand for grain sales and build long-term demand for ethanol among global customers.

The trade organisation that seeks to improve exports of US grain and grain products to territories around the World, has appointed Tim Tierney and Caleb Wurth to take up key positions in the fast growing Asian region.

Tim Tierney, who the joined the Council as Director of Strategic Marketing/Ethanol, North Asia, filled a new role that seeks to capitalize on both longstanding relationships in the region and emerging opportunities for biofuels.

Tierney joined the organization from Syngenta and DuPont, where he worked on products developed for the ethanol industry.

He previously worked with the Council as director in Japan, director of international operations based in Washington, and as a trade servicer.

“Over the past year, the Council’s leadership has heard loud and clear that what our members want is new demand, and they are willing to invest in it by allowing us to hire high-quality people around the world,” said Tom Sleight, Council president and CEO.

“Particularly as we have pivoted to promoting ethanol exports globally, we have focused on ensuring we have the right people in our overseas offices to do this work well and quickly.”

Caleb Wurth has joined the Council’s Southeast Asia regional office in Kuala Lumpur as assistant director this month.

He has experience marketing corn and corn co-products to feedlots and working on containerized grain export logistics, both of which are particularly relevant to the region in which he will be working.

“We know that farmers need sales now to deal with the economic conditions they are facing.

Demand supports prices, and we are in the business of both increasing sales over time and capturing purchases being made for this marketing year,” Sleight said.

The Council has also offered existing staff within the organization’s global operations promotions and filled positions that came open for consultants in Latin America, Egypt, Tunisia and China.