June 4, 2008                       

China's demand for corn to escalate with robust meat market
   
  
China's demand for corn will rise further with the burgeoning demand for meat, Scott Rozelle, a Stanford University professor, said.

Rozelle said that China's need for corn is not due to weak domestic production. In fact, with about 70 million acres in corn production, the country is second only to the US in terms of corn acreage.

However, the 148 million tonnes of corn China is expected to produce from last October to September of this year is not enough for 1.2 billion people, Rozelle explained.

China needs corn to feed the nation's rising demand for meat.

Already the top customer of US soy, China buys almost half of all the soy American farmers export, said John Hawkins, spokesman for Illinois Farm Bureau.

Currently, Japan and Mexico rank as the top corn importers.

China will also be a major corn importer along with soy in the future, Rozelle predicts.