February 16, 2007

 

Taiwan unlikely to import Chinese corn even as ban to be resumed

 

 

There is unlikely to be an influx of corn from China into Taiwan before the government reinstates the ban on Chinese corn by the end of the month, feed makers said on Thursday (Feb 15).

 

Taiwan, which relies on the US for most of its corn supplies, in November lifted a ban on Chinese corn imports for about three months to ease the impact of high global prices.

 

Some traders blamed the Taiwanese government for taking too long in deciding to temporarily lift the ban, with Chinese corn prices rising too high in the interim to make any purchases worthwhile.

 

Feed companies said the lifting of the ban came too late to be of any consequence. By the time it was announced prices had shot up, a Great Wall Feed Group official said.

 

Company officials said orders could be placed through mid-February, after which time any orders would not have enough time to arrive within the deadline.

 

There has been no sales so far and with the deadline by month end and with the Spring Festival holidays a week long, there was no guarantee it would arrive before the bans are imposed again, a Chinese trader said.  

 

There may be smaller purchases from individual feedmakers, but the likelihood of major combined imports by the major buyers is slim, traders said.

 

Officials at the Taiwan Feed Industry Association, Great Wall Enterprises and Uni-President, the island's major corn buyers, said they had not placed any orders and would not do so in the days before the Spring Festival.

 

Earlier in January, Taiwan feed officials said China might sell the island 300,000 tonnes of corn after the ban was lifted.

 

Taiwan bans corn imports from China along with many other food products for national security and quality reasons.

 

It imported nearly 5 million tonnes of corn in 2005, up 2.5 percent from the previous year. Almost 97 percent it is supplied by the US.