August 14, 2006

China's corn exports down while feed production up

China's corn exports fell 62.3 percent on year in January-July to 2.28 million tonnes, the General Administration of Customs said Thursday (Aug 10).

For July, China's corn exports were at 10,000 tonnes, preliminary customs data showed.

Meanwhile, China's feed production is expected to increase 5 percent on-year to 112.63 million tonnes this year, an industry official said.

Despite losses during January-June due to outbreaks of bird flu and other animal diseases, China would still be able to register a 5-percent increase on-year in feed production for the whole year, said Sha Yusheng, vice Secretary General of China Feed Industrial Association.

Demand for feed has started to pick up in the second half of this year, with prices for pork and poultry recovering, he added.

Although new bird flu outbreaks are still possible this year, it is less likely to bring about strong reactions from people, so the overall impact would be limited, Sha said.