Data released by the General Administration of Customs from China shows that China’s demand for imported corn in April was 1.85 million tons, up 108.6% from last year. Global Times portal said that China’s imports could reach a record high of 30 million tons. Analysts also say that imports are to remain strong even with the expansion of the planting area in China mainly due to high prices of corn in the country. According to Global Times, China’s corn planting area is expected to reach 42.7 million hectares, up 3.4% from 2020. Corn output is initially projected at 272 million tons, up 4.3% from previous one. “This year we will see an extension of the of last year’s corn imports, which is likely to break through 30 million tons”, says Lu Yuping, general manager of Longping Biotechnology. Wang Gangyi, professor at Northeast Agricultural University, said that “the price of imported corn, including transport costs, is much lower than that of domestic corn. Corn processing and feed enterprises will still choose imported corn”.
Source: Noticias Agrícolas (*Translated by Ia Niani)