Also known as maize, the value of globally exported corn rose by an average 21.5% for all exporting countries since 2015 when corn shipments were valued at $28.7 billion. Year over year, the value of corn exports expanded by 3% from 2018 to 2019.
Among continents, countries in Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean sold the highest dollar worth of corn exports during 2019 with shipments valued at $13.9 billion or 39.8% of the worldwide total. In second place was Europe at 33.4% while 24% worth originated from shippers in North America. Smaller percentages came from Asia (1.7%), Africa (1%) and Oceania (0.1%) mostly Australia and New Zealand.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix for corn is 1005.
Corn Exports by Country
Countries
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of corn during 2019.
- United States: US$12.9 billion (38.1% of total corn exports)
- Argentina: $4.2 billion (12.5%)
- Brazil: $4.1 billion (12.1%)
- Ukraine: $3.5 billion (10.3%)
- France: $1.7 billion (5%)
- Romania: $1 billion (3%)
- Russia: $854.4 million (2.5%)
- Hungary: $771.4 million (2.3%)
- South Africa: $452.2 million (1.3%)
- Canada: $406.3 million (1.2%)
- Mexico: $284.5 million (0.8%)
- Bulgaria: $276.1 million (0.8%)
- Serbia: $265.9 million (0.8%)
- Poland: $257.2 million (0.8%)
- India: $254.8 million (0.8%)
The listed 15 countries shipped 93.7% of global corn exported in 2019 by value.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing corn exporters since 2015 were: Bulgaria (up 120.7%), Argentina (up 90.5%), Poland (up 73.4%) and Canada (up 61.8%).
Four countries posted declines in their exported corn sales namely France (down -30.3%), Paraguay (down -9.4%), United States (down -7.6%) and Hungary (down -7.1%).
Advantages
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for corn during 2019. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the surplus between the value of each country’s corn exports and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- United States: US$7.6 billion (net export surplus down -6.3% since 2015)
- Brazil: $7.2 billion (up 45.5%)
- Argentina: $5.9 billion (up 90.4%)
- Ukraine: $4.4 billion (up 53.4%)
- Romania: $1.2 billion (up 65%)
- France: $1.1 billion (down -38.8%)
- Hungary: $727.9 million (down -10.1%)
- Serbia: $514.7 million (up 40.3%)
- Russia: $508.5 million (up 14.4%)
- Bulgaria: $422.4 million (up 150.8%)
- Paraguay: $354.9 million (down -10.8%)
- Myanmar (Burma): $203.5 million (down -37.2%)
- South Africa: $149 million (up 156.8%)
- Croatia: $117 million (up 72.8%)
- Moldova: $95.3 million (up 165.5%)
The United States of America generated the highest surplus in the international trade of fresh corn. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms America’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Opportunities
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for corn during 2019. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the deficit between the value of each country’s corn import purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- Japan: -US$3.5 billion (net export deficit up 8.9% since 2015)
- Mexico: -$3 billion (up 37.4%)
- South Korea: -$2.4 billion (up 6.2%)
- Vietnam: -$1.91 billion (up 16.4%)
- Spain: -$1.9 billion (up 39.7%)
- Iran: -$1.4 billion (down -4.9%)
- Italy: -$1.2 billion (up 80.1%)
- Netherlands: -$1.13 billion (up 32.6%)
- Egypt: -$1.1 billion (down -38.3%)
- China: -$1.05 billion (down -4.6%)
- Colombia: -$1 billion (up 9.3%)
- Germany: -$983.1 million (up 72.5%)
- Taiwan: -$979.4 million (up 12%)
- Malaysia: -$786.2 million (up 2.1%)
- Peru: -$771.4 million (up 37.6%)
Japan incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of fresh corn. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights Japan’s strong competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for corn-supplying countries that help satisfy powerful consumer demand.
Companies
Corn Exporting Companies
Below are corn-processing conglomerates that represent large players in the global corn market. Shown within parenthesis is the country where the company is headquartered.
- Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. (United States)
- Bunge Limited (United States)
- Cargill, Inc (United States)
- Ingredion Incorporated (United States)
- Louis Dreyfus Holding B.V. (Netherlands)
- Mriya Agro Holding (Ukraine)
- SLC Agrícola (Brazil)
- Syngenta AG (Switzerland)
- Tate & Lyle Public Limited Company (United Kingdom)
- Vanguarda Agro (Brazil)
Searchable List of Corn Exporting Countries in 2019
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the columns below. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means no 2018 data is available.
| Rank | Exporter | Corn Exports (US$) | 2018-9 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | United States | $8,013,010,000 | -38% |
| 2. | Brazil | $7,421,383,000 | +80.6% |
| 3. | Argentina | $5,965,559,000 | +40.3% |
| 4. | Ukraine | $4,568,213,000 | +30.3% |
| 5. | Romania | $1,415,785,000 | +36.7% |
| 6. | France | $1,370,469,000 | -17.8% |
| 7. | Hungary | $871,625,000 | +19.8% |
| 8. | Russia | $616,676,000 | -27.8% |
| 9. | Serbia | $530,391,000 | +110% |
| 10. | Bulgaria | $473,377,000 | +75.6% |
| 11. | Paraguay | $399,833,000 | +79.5% |
| 12. | Netherlands | $281,642,000 | +14.3% |
| 13. | South Africa | $281,052,000 | -38.4% |
| 14. | Canada | $241,738,000 | -40.8% |
| 15. | Poland | $240,587,000 | -6.5% |
| 16. | Austria | $228,382,000 | +17.7% |
| 17. | Myanmar (Burma) | $224,786,000 | -5.5% |
| 18. | Croatia | $159,516,000 | +48.1% |
| 19. | India | $146,381,000 | -42.5% |
| 20. | Slovenia | $142,703,000 | +87.5% |
| 21. | Germany | $133,659,000 | -15.6% |
| 22. | Mexico | $119,297,000 | -58.1% |
| 23. | Moldova | $111,832,000 | +1.7% |
| 24. | Slovakia | $108,787,000 | +21% |
| 25. | Spain | $79,847,000 | -0.8% |
| 26. | Thailand | $65,720,000 | -44.7% |
| 27. | Chile | $65,498,000 | -22.2% |
| 28. | Lithuania | $52,210,000 | +160.1% |
| 29. | Italy | $51,876,000 | +34.4% |
| 30. | Laos | $47,799,000 | +51% |
| 31. | Belgium | $46,283,000 | -45.3% |
| 32. | United Kingdom | $39,600,000 | -4.2% |
| 33. | Portugal | $38,212,000 | -36.2% |
| 34. | Zambia | $37,693,000 | -16.7% |
| 35. | Turkey | $36,733,000 | -16.3% |
| 36. | Czech Republic | $35,108,000 | -20.6% |
| 37. | Vietnam | $28,857,000 | -37.6% |
| 38. | Peru | $25,133,000 | +5.8% |
| 39. | Australia | $22,845,000 | -2.1% |
| 40. | Kazakhstan | $16,882,000 | +78.7% |
| 41. | New Zealand | $14,703,000 | +18.3% |
| 42. | Ireland | $14,523,000 | +165.5% |
| 43. | Cambodia | $10,126,000 | +2,181% |
| 44. | China | $9,653,000 | +65.4% |
| 45. | Denmark | $9,160,000 | -20.7% |
| 46. | Uruguay | $8,907,000 | +3,627% |
| 47. | Latvia | $8,647,000 | -75.2% |
| 48. | Tanzania | $7,159,000 | -83.3% |
| 49. | Yemen | $5,701,000 | -13.7% |
| 50. | Burkina Faso | $5,618,000 | +242.1% |
| 51. | North Macedonia | $4,784,000 | +63.1% |
| 52. | Bolivia | $4,583,000 | -12.5% |
| 53. | Luxembourg | $4,328,000 | -30.7% |
| 54. | Greece | $4,112,000 | -16.2% |
| 55. | Malawi | $3,714,000 | -55.4% |
| 56. | Pakistan | $2,554,000 | +148.9% |
| 57. | Zimbabwe | $2,470,000 | +8.6% |
| 58. | Sudan | $2,341,000 | +204% |
| 59. | Indonesia | $1,828,000 | -97.5% |
| 60. | Malaysia | $1,629,000 | -47.3% |
| 61. | Colombia | $1,579,000 | -18.4% |
| 62. | Ecuador | $1,514,000 | +1,370% |
| 63. | Philippines | $1,242,000 | +15.5% |
| 64. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $1,238,000 | -46.8% |
| 65. | Guatemala | $1,214,000 | +10.9% |
| 66. | Togo | $1,103,000 | +118.8% |
| 67. | Georgia | $1,080,000 | +77% |
| 68. | Sweden | $922,000 | +26.8% |
| 69. | Belize | $893,000 | -64.1% |
| 70. | Switzerland | $785,000 | +130.9% |
| 71. | Israel | $650,000 | -63.2% |
| 72. | El Salvador | $608,000 | +5.7% |
| 73. | Singapore | $420,000 | +211.1% |
| 74. | Botswana | $336,000 | -45.6% |
| 75. | Panama | $330,000 | 0% |
| 76. | United Arab Emirates | $300,000 | -98.6% |
| 77. | Eswatini | $266,000 | -16.6% |
| 78. | Ivory Coast | $241,000 | -81.2% |
| 79. | Nicaragua | $228,000 | +11.8% |
| 80. | Norway | $203,000 | +1,094% |
| 81. | Senegal | $178,000 | -72.9% |
| 82. | Angola | $137,000 | +2,640% |
| 83. | Belarus | $112,000 | -91.8% |
| 84. | Namibia | $106,000 | +278.6% |
| 85. | Hong Kong | $99,000 | -8.3% |
| 86. | Egypt | $95,000 | -95.9% |
| 87. | Lebanon | $91,000 | +4.6% |
| 88. | Albania | $84,000 | 0% |
| 89. | South Korea | $81,000 | -29.6% |
| 90. | Kyrgyzstan | $81,000 | +39.7% |
| 91. | Taiwan | $75,000 | +5.6% |
| 92. | Dominican Republic | $67,000 | -87.7% |
| 93. | Kenya | $64,000 | -99% |
| 94. | Lesotho | $64,000 | -42.9% |
| 95. | Morocco | $62,000 | -29.5% |
| 96. | Mozambique | $58,000 | -91.5% |
| 97. | Japan | $54,000 | -65.6% |
| 98. | Honduras | $54,000 | -98.8% |
| 99. | Estonia | $51,000 | -75.8% |
| 100. | Costa Rica | $49,000 | 0% |
| 101. | Madagascar | $38,000 | +31% |
| 102. | Qatar | $38,000 | +11.8% |
| 103. | Sri Lanka | $24,000 | -85.8% |
| 104. | Ghana | $23,000 | -88.3% |
| 105. | Montenegro | $21,000 | 0% |
| 106. | Mauritius | $21,000 | -72.4% |
| 107. | Guyana | $19,000 | +111.1% |
| 108. | Saudi Arabia | $15,000 | -62.5% |
| 109. | Cyprus | $13,000 | +116.7% |
| 110. | Andorra | $13,000 | 0% |
| 111. | Azerbaijan | $8,000 | -84% |
| 112. | Somalia | $8,000 | 0% |
| 113. | Tajikistan | $7,000 | +75% |
| 114. | Bangladesh | $7,000 | 0% |
| 115. | Barbados | $5,000 | +66.7% |
| 116. | Uzbekistan | $4,000 | 0% |
| 117. | Benin | $3,000 | 0% |
| 118. | Trinidad/Tobago | $3,000 | -98.1% |
| 119. | Jordan | $2,000 | -100% |
| 120. | Uganda | $2,000 | -100% |
| 121. | Iran | $1,000 | -99.5% |
| 122. | Iraq | $1,000 | -93.3% |
| 123. | Haiti | $1,000 | -80% |
| 124. | Suriname | $1,000 | 0% |
See also Corn Imports by Country, Wheat Exports by Country, Soya Beans Exports by Country and Top Sweet Pepper and Chili Pepper Exports
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on May 3, 2020
Genetic Literacy Project, World’s largest corn producer sues Syngenta over Chinese rejection of GMO corn. Accessed on May 3, 2020
Hoovers, Company information. Accessed on May 3, 2020
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on May 3, 2020
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on May 3, 2020
Wikipedia, Category: Agriculture companies by country. Accessed on May 3, 2020
Wikipedia, Maize. Accessed on May 3, 2020
