March 30, 2006

US corn imports likely to increase in South Korea

South Korea would be a key market accounting for any US corn export increase this year, according to Byong Min, US Grains Council director in South Korea.

South Korea is likely to import more than 6 million tonnes (236 million bushels) of US corn in 2006, due to the limited availability of Chinese corn, he said.

The country imported 2.1 million tonnes (85 million bushels) of US corn in 2005, approximately a quarter of their total corn imports.

Increased US corn exports to Korea are also offsetting decreases in regions affected by avian influenza, where declines in poultry consumption have slowed feed demand.

Moreover, China corn exports have been halted recently as internal demand soars. A recent human death from bird flu in Guangzhou, one of China's leading poultry-producing regions, heightened fears recently that the virus will dampen corn demand in feed mills as people avoid poultry. However, bird flu has not has a big impact on corn prices in China and industrial corn demand in China has remained steady, Callahan said.

Officials in Jilin, China's top corn producing region, predicted prices will rise in late April or May as stocks are drawn down.