September 12, 2011

China's 2011 US corn imports may surpass 975,000 tonnes

China's corn imports from the US are likely to exceed 975,000 tonnes this year, the US Grains Council said in a note Friday (Sep 9).

This would make China the eighth largest market for US corn after Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Egypt, Taiwan, the EU and Syria.

The council's forecast is more conservative than that from analysts who have estimated China may buy about three million tonnes of corn this year from the US.

In the last calendar year, total corn shipments to China reached 1.57 million tonnes, the highest import level in 15 years, according to China's customs data.

The state-backed China National Grain and Oils Information Centre has forecast China may import 2.5 million tonnes of corn in the 2011-12 marketing year, which starts September 1 each year.