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CBIL
Agri-Foods, Spices & Nuts
All Pulses & Grains

Sorghum

White food-grade & red feed-grade jowar

The whole sorghum trade turns on one fork: white versus red, which is really food versus feed. White sorghum (jowar) is the food grain — low-tannin, clean cream-white pericarp, milled into jowar flour and roti, extruded into gluten-free snacks and increasingly bought by Western food manufacturers who want a non-wheat, non-corn starch base. It is graded hard on colour uniformity and discoloured-grain percentage, because dark specks carry straight through into the flour. Red sorghum carries a coloured pericarp and higher tannin, which suppresses feed conversion in monogastrics but is fine for ruminants, so red trades as feed material at a substantially lower price. Tannin percentage is worth writing into the contract rather than assuming from colour.

Against the siblings on this page, sorghum is the volume calorie grain: buyers come to it instead of millets when they need feed economics at scale or a large-tonnage gluten-free milling base, and instead of maize when they want a drought-tolerant, non-GMO starch source. Feed compounders buy on test weight, moisture, broken and foreign matter and aflatoxin; food millers add colour, tannin and a tighter aflatoxin ceiling. Lots are machine-cleaned, destoned and gravity-separated, with Sortex colour-sorting on food-grade white, certified by SGS or Intertek for colour class, tannin, purity, moisture, test weight, broken and damaged grain, aflatoxin and crop year, plus phytosanitary and fumigation documentation. CBIL arranges 50kg PP bags, 1 MT jumbo bags and bulk-vessel supply on FOB, CFR and CIF terms.

Need the ship as well? Our chartering desk prices bagged and bulk grain freight on LaycanDesk.

Excluded origins are not offered, including product re-exported, blended or re-processed through a third country. Every lot moves with a certificate of origin naming the producing plant, mine or grower country, and nothing is quoted before the seller and loading point are known.

Indicative reference

$340–470 USD / MT

as at September 2026

IncotermsFOB · CFR · CIF
OriginsIndia (Maharashtra, Karnataka), Australia, Argentina, Sudan
Packaging50 kg PP bags, 1 MT jumbo bags, bulk vessel, container-load
HS Code1007.90

Reference level only — not an offer, and reviewed quarterly. Levels shown are as at September 2026. Firm pricing is quoted per RFQ, subject to volume, terms and inspection.

India (Maharashtra, Karnataka) · Australia · Argentina · Sudan

Typical Specification

Colour ClassWhite (food) / red (feed)
Tannin≤ 0.4% (white) / variable (red)
Moisture≤ 13%
Test Weight≥ 72 kg/hl
Broken / Damaged≤ 3%
Aflatoxin≤ 4 ppb (EU food) / ≤ 20 ppb (feed)

Specifications are indicative and adjusted to the agreed contract and destination requirements. Final spec confirmed on COA / SGS.

Available Grades

White Food-Grade Sorghum (Jowar), Low-TanninRed Feed-Grade SorghumSortex-Sorted White (Milling)Jowar Flour

Applications

  • Flour & roti milling
  • Gluten-free snack extrusion
  • Compound animal feed
  • Poultry & aqua feed

Category

Agri-Foods, Spices & Nuts

Incoterms

FOB · CFR · CIF

Pricing basis

USD / MT

Inspection

SGS / Intertek at load port

Sorghum — buyer questions

White or red sorghum — how do I choose?

It is food versus feed. White is the low-tannin food grain milled into jowar flour, roti and gluten-free extruded snacks, and it is graded hard on colour uniformity because dark specks carry through into the flour. Red carries a coloured pericarp and higher tannin, trades at a substantially lower price, and is bought by feed compounders. Do not buy white for a feed ration — you are paying a milling premium the animal cannot use.

Why does tannin matter, and should I specify it?

Yes, specify it rather than inferring it from colour. Tannin suppresses feed conversion in monogastrics — poultry and pigs — while ruminants tolerate it. We certify tannin percentage on the lot, typically ≤ 0.4% on food-grade white, so the number is contracted rather than assumed.

Why is sorghum so much cheaper than the pulses on this page?

It is a bulk calorie grain, not a protein pulse. Sorghum competes with maize and feed wheat on price per tonne of starch, and it moves in bulk-vessel tonnage, whereas chickpeas, lentils and kidney beans are graded, sorted, bagged food pulses sold on calibre and appearance. The price gap reflects two genuinely different markets, not a quality difference.

Can sorghum replace maize in a feed ration?

Largely, yes — it is a well-established maize substitute on an energy basis and appeals where buyers want a drought-tolerant, non-GMO starch source. The caveats are tannin, which needs watching for monogastric rations, and test weight, which drives the energy density you are actually buying. Both are on the certificate, so the substitution can be modelled rather than guessed.