August 20, 2010

China's corn imports swell in July

China's corn imports in July surged 201% from June to 193,896 tonnes while rice imports stood at 20,216 tonnes, down from June's 28,032 tonnes, official Customs figures showed on Thursday (Aug 19).

Beijing has encouraged corn imports amid high domestic prices and tight supplies after last year's drought, but official figures show that rice imports have not picked up despite floods hitting the country's early rice crop in the south.

The government has been releasing its corn reserves every week and increased its second auction this week after domestic futures prices were traded at record high level this week on worries of lower state reserves.