May 9, 2012

China to buy up to 35% more foreign corn

China is likely to import up to 35% additional corn as a fast meat demand hike leads to more grain being used to feed chickens and pigs, the UN said.

As much as five million tonnes of corn may be brought into the country in the year beginning July 1, up from 3.7 million tonnes a year earlier, said Hiroyuki Konuma, assistant director-general at the UN Food & Agriculture Organization.

China's imports of wheat and corn stood at 1.12 million tonnes and 1.74 million tonnes, respectively from January to March 2012.

It saw its agricultural product trade surplus reach US$ 11.4 billion in the first three months of 2012, sources reported, citing data from the Ministry of Agriculture.

Meanwhile, the party secretary of Northeast China's Jilin Province said that the grain output of the province will reach 35 billion kilogrammes over the next five years, state media reported.