January 10, 2011

Chinese grain firms buy 30.1-million-tonne corn in 2010

China's grain enterprises bought 30.1 million tonnes of newly harvested corn last year in 10 major producing provinces, the State Administration of Grain said Thursday (Jan 10).

State-owned grain companies bought 7.6 million tonnes, accounting for 25% of the total, the grain administration said.

The state-backed China National Grain and Oil Information Centre said in a regular estimate that corn output likely increased 5% to 172.5 million tonnes in 2010.

The grain regulator did not specify whether state companies' corn purchases were used for processing or replenishing stockpiles; the government's corn reserves have been very low - around seven million tonnes as of September 30.