March 23, 2012

China's 2012 corn imports to soar further

The corn imports of China are projected to further rise this year from 2011 to meet the growing demand, informed Cheng Guoqiang, a researcher with the Development Research Center of the State Council, on Thursday (Mar 22).

Even if China was able to achieve bumper harvests of corn this year, the country's corn supply shortfall might also continue to expand along with rapid increase of demand from the deep processing sector, predicted Cheng at the on-going seminar on the feed market held in Boao, a serene resort on the east coast of south China's Hainan Province.

Corn demand from domestic processing enterprises has increased from 35 million tonnes in 2008 to 45-50 million tonnes.

The country has already turned from a net exporter of corn to a net importer of the crop, according to Cheng.

China's net exports of corn had dropped obviously since the crop year of 2007-08. The country began to see net corn imports in 2010, noted Cheng, adding that China imported 1.57 million tonnes in 2010 and an estimated five million tonnes in 2011.

Cheng's estimate on China's corn imports last year is higher than the import of 1.75 million tonnes released by the General Administration of Customs.