Sukup Manufacturing Hosts Chinese Delegation For Ethanol-Focused Visit

In mid-December, the team at Sukup Manufacturing helped host government officials from Binzhou, a city in the Shandong province of China. The Chinese delegation visited northern Iowa to learn about ethanol production.

The agenda for the visit included a tour of Golden Grain Energy in Mason City, time at Sukup Manufacturing in Sheffield, and a farm tour near Dougherty. While at Sukup’s offices on December 13, Governor Kim Reynolds and Lt. Governor Adam Gregg, met the delegation as part of the Governor’s Empower Rural Iowa Initiative.

“We have tremendous resources and knowledge of ethanol production in North Iowa, which the Chinese delegation acknowledges and hopes to gain from,” Sukup Manufacturing CFO Steve Sukup said in a news release. “China will have a major demand for ethanol in the near future, and we hope their visit was productive and will help them understand how to meet that demand.”

As Sukup alludes to, China has announced plans to include a 10% ethanol blend in all fuel sold across the country by 2020.

Sukup Manufacturing is the largest family-owned and operated grain storage, drying and handling equipment manufacturer.

The visit for the Chinese delegation concluded with a a formal signing ceremony at the World Food Prize Hall of Laureates for a Memorandum of Understanding, which Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig attended to witness and provide remarks.