BEIJING – April 9, 2021
China’s agriculture ministry significantly raised its forecast for 2020/21 corn imports this morning, reflecting actual market demand for the grain due to a spike in the crop’s domestic prices during the year.
China is expected to import 22 million tonnes of corn in 2020/21 year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said, doubling its forecast from 10 million tonnes announced last month.
To note that U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) had already projected that China’s corn imports in 2020/21 marketing year would reach 24 million tonnes.
Consequently, in the short term, supply and demand of domestic corn will basically be balanced, and it is unlikely that prices (of corn) will rise or fall significantly, the agriculture ministry said in a statement published along with the report.
The ministry also raised its forecast for edible oil output in the 2020/21 marketing year, to 28.49 million tonnes, up 1.26 million tonnes from its previous estimate, as more rapeseed cargoes from countries including Russia were expected to come in, according to the statement.
China was projected to bring in 9.33 million tonnes of edible oil, up 880,000 tonnes from last month’s forecast, mainly because commercial stocks in the country were at historically low levels and demand for imports was strong, it added.
Source: Reuters
