November 26, 2010

China's DDGS demand set to grow 10 million tonnes

China's demand for dried distillers' grains and soluble (DDGS) may rise to more than 10 million tonnes per year in the future, an executive at Cofco said.

Such an increase leaves a large room for more US imports, said Liu Xiaoyu, head of the feed division at Cofco, China's largest grains trader. China's total imports may be more than 2.8 million tonnes this year, Liu said.

China has increased purchasing of DDGS this year after becoming a net importer of corn in 2009 for the first time in 14 years as drought damaged crops.

The country produces 115 million tonnes of compound feed, 10% of which can use DDGS as a raw material, based on standard feed formula, said Liu.

"As it only produces 1.5 million tonnes of the grains domestically, potentially it could consume another 10 million tonnes," he said.