Drought may pull down China's corn 2009-10 crop at 148.79 million tonnes

 

The production estimate follows the grain council's annual China tour. Last year's crop totalled 165.917 million tonnes, according to China's National Grains and Oils Information Centre. The council said that earlier this month China estimated this year's crop at 165.5 million tonnes.

 

The tour sent 15 people in northeast China and the north China plain, including areas hit by dry weather this year.

 

A smaller crop will likely lead to continued higher prices in China, said Cary Sifferath, the council's senior director in China, but that the nation will likely not begin importing corn, noting "political sensitivity" to importing corn as well as adequate supplies.

 

"They still have fairly large amounts of corn stocks available," he said.

 

However, China's high corn prices have "led to some opportunities for US feed grain products, specifically the distiller dried grains" and could continue to do so, he said.

 

Imports of US distiller dried grains, a byproduct of corn-based ethanol production that can be used as livestock feed, have surged since June or July, Sifferath said.

 

He said after exporting roughly 8,000 tonnes of distiller dried grains in 2008, he could "easily" predict 250,000 to 300,000 in 2009. The demand is coming from across the livestock sector in China.