April 25, 2007

China increases corn sowing 

China's corn output is expected to increase this year as acreage sown to corn in March-April 2007 increased 3.6 percent, Wang Xiaohui, head of Forecast Department of the State Grain and Oil Information Centre said.

Wang said that the supply and demand of grain would stay balanced in the 2007-2008 crop year. The consumption of animal feed will increase about three million tonnes in 2007-2008, and that of grain for industrial use, about two million tonnes, he said.

China's industrial consumption of grain has grown 25 percent annually since 2001, causing a continual climb in recent years, he remarked.