May 16, 2009

China to transfer corn to consumption areas

China will move 3.05 million tonnes of corn from northeast producing areas to consumption areas to ease pressure on the capacity of state reserves, the State Administration of Grain said Friday (May 15).

The corn will be transferred to 11 provinces and three big cities, the administration said in a statement published on its Web site.

The transfers will be in addition to a three million-tonne grain transfer plan announced earlier.

Analysts said the government has bought around 35 million tonnes of domestic corn from last year's harvest, 88 percent of the 40 million tonnes it plans to buy.

The large volume of purchases has challenged reserves capacity, and the government has said it will invest in construction of more facilities for state reserves.