January 19, 2004

China Corn Prices Expected To Climb To New Heights in 2004

Corn prices in China are expected to climb to new heights this year, according to an analysis by Qu Xiaofeng from the Jilin Cereals Central Wholesale Market.

The analysis is based on the following contributing factors:

• Fall in output and inventories will bring about a tense situation in the supply of corn.
  
  
• Corn demand will continue to rise and export will be reduced.
  
  
• Adding to the tense situation will be poor transport.   

Meanwhile, these factors will make state purchase of corn at protective price difficult and raise the cost of warehousing costs both at the central and local levels.