June 12, 2006

China expected to increase corn production to 138 million tonnes this year

China is expected to produce 138 million tonnes (5.4 billion bushels) of corn in 2006, according to the USDA's World Agricultural Supply And Demand Estimates (WASDE) released Friday (Jun 9).

The increase of 3 million tonnes (118.1 million bushels) compared to last month's estimate is largely off-set by an increase of corn for feed use of 2 million tonnes.

However, Erick Erickson, US Grains Council's special assistant for planning, evaluation and projects said that the lack of a transparent reporting structure make it hard to say if these numbers are an accurate reflection of the market.

Estimates for US corn production and exports remained stable at 267.9 million tonnes and 54.6 million tonnes respectively.