March 5, 2012

Due to quality concerns, India's corn exports have slowed and are expected to remain flat this marketing year at last year's level of 2.8 million tonnes, traders said Friday (Mar 2).

Around 1.2 million tonnes have been shipped so far in the year that began started October 1.

"Exports are slow and there are a lot of complaints. People are talking in terms of really bad quality," a trader with an international commodity company said.

The complaints relate to grain breakage and excess moisture. "The only reason shipments are still going from India is price parity. Indian corn is quoting around US$300/tonne, cost and freight," he said.

Vietnam recently rejected some Indian cargoes. India, the world's fifth-largest supplier, exports the animal feed mainly to Vietnam, Bangladesh and Malaysia. Traders hope exports will pick up when winter-sown corn arrives in a month.

"Winter-sown corn output will be 4.5-5 million tonnes," another trader said.

India's total corn output in the crop year that began July 1 will likely reach 21.60 million tonnes.

Around 70% of India's corn is grown in summer, when the monsoon arrives in the May-June period.