October 20, 2010

China's Jan-Sep corn imports reach 1.23 million tonnes

China imported 512,789 tonnes of corn in September, bringing the country's total imports in the first three quarters to 1.23 million tonnes, according to Chinese customs data Tuesday (Oct 19).

Those figures are in line with a USDA forecast that China's total corn imports for the 2009/2010 crop year, ending in September, would total 1.3 million tonnes, the biggest in 15 years.

Rising demand for animal feed, coupled with a fall in the harvest last year, has prompted China to resume imports of US corn in earnest, having last bought a cargo in 2006.

China's imports in the 2010/2011 crop year may reach five million tonnes, analysts said.

Meanwhile, the government sold 214,700 tonnes of corn, or 21.6% of the total 995,000 tonnes offered at auctions from state reserves Tuesday, the National Grain and Oil Trade Centre reported.

The corn was supplied from Heilongjiang, Jilin, Inner Mongolia and Liaoning provinces, averaging RMB1,612 (US$242) a tonne.