May 14, 2010
Sale of temporary corn stockpiles to resume in China
China will resume selling corn from temporary stockpiles in major producing regions next week, state-owned researcher Cngrain.com reported on its website.
State reserves will auction a total 500,000 metric tonnes in the north-eastern provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning and Inner Mongolia over the next two weeks.
The planned sale showed the government's determination to ensure supply as reports of surging prices and small import quantities added to speculation domestic corn supplies may tighten.
The country's ending stockpiles for the 2009-2010 marketing year will still be 48.7 million tonnes, giving a stocks to usage ratio of 30%, the highest in the world.
Cngrain.com is owned by China National Grain Reserves Corp., the country's grain reserve manager.
