Milling wheat imports by South Korea, Asia's second-biggest grain importer, may decline by about 5% this year as the country boosts consumption of rice flour.

Shipments may fall to about 1.9 million tonnes from two million tonnes in 2009, Sung J. Park, executive vice president at CJ CheilJedang Corp. said.

Wheat futures have tumbled 13% this year on the Chicago Board of Trade because of reduced demand for US grain and climbing global stockpiles. South Korea, which imports virtually all its wheat, plans to replace about 10% of domestic demand with rice flour. The government is also encouraging local production to reduce imports.

"The wheat market in South Korea is saturated, so a likely increase in rice consumption and domestic wheat production may lead to a further decline in import demand," Park. In the long-term, import demand may decline to about 1.5 million tonnes, he said.

The country imported 2.3 million tonnes in 2008. South Korea is the fifth-biggest export market for US wheat in terms of volume year-to-date through March, according to a USDA report on May 13.