Saturday, March 25, 2023
HomeFoodChina’s corn imports in September remain strong

Subscribe

To our FREE newsletter
Get all the latest maritime news delivered straight to your inbox.

China’s corn imports in September remain strong

China posted strong corn imports for September while November hog futures on the Dalian Exchange have posted a 23.3% increase since end-September to date.

China imported 3.53 million mt corn in September, up 227% year on year, according to the country’s customs data.
The US was the top exporter to China at 3.34 million mt in September. China’s total imports from January to September was at 25 million mt, up 274.5% year on year, the data showed.

Market sources expect imports to be in the 28 million-30 million mt range for 2020-21.

Meanwhile, hog futures have recovered from its low of Yuan 11,480/mt on Sept. 30 to Yuan 14,150/mt on Oct. 20. Since hog futures started trading this year, prices have plunged more than 50% as swine herd repopulation efforts started paying off.

The livestock industry is a major consumer of corn feed.

The Chinese domestic corn harvest is ongoing and reports of fresh purchases have been thin amid a bumper crop.

The Chinese Agriculture Outlook Committee, known as CASDE, forecast domestic corn output at 270.96 million mt for 2021-22 (October-September), up from 260.67 million mt in 2020-21, as previously reported by S&P Global Platts.

The CASDE import forecast is at 20 million mt for 2021-22, while Platts Analytics sees Chinese corn imports to be 21 million-22 million mt based on CASDE production estimates.

Although corn imports forecast for 2021-22 was lower than 2020-21 imports, the possibility of imports rising could not be ruled out as wheat prices in the local market are now trading above corn.

For the first time since November 2020, corn prices in China are now below those of wheat in the local market.

Generally, wheat is more expensive than corn. However, a big supply deficit in the local corn market boosted prices of the product in China in 2021. The government responded by releasing wheat stocks from reserves as a proportion of corn can be replaced with wheat in livestock feed ration.

China sold 27.79 million mt of wheat as of May 6 in the government auctions conducted in 2021, already surpassing the 23.23 million mt sold in the whole of 2020. Corn prices began to cool off as imported corn and wheat entered the market.

However, corn imports in 2021 have remained strong despite the robust substitution in feed ration.

With the price difference between corn and wheat narrowing, use of corn could return to the usual levels.

Source: Platts

Related Posts

Video

Finance & Economy
Shipping News
Ports

Eva Birgitte Bisgaard steps down as chief commercial officer at Maersk Tankers

Eva Birgitte Bisgaard is stepping down from her role as chief commercial officer at Maersk Tankers. Christian M. Ingerslev, chief executive officer of Maersk Tankers,...

Frontline’s Fredriksen appointed to Euronav supervisory board

Belgium’s Euronav said its shareholders had overwhelmingly voted to elect John Fredriksen of peer Frontline, a major investor that pulled out of a merger...

UBS Likely to Shrink Credit Suisse’s $10 Billion Shipping Portfolio – Report

UBS Group AG will likely shrink Credit Suisse Group’s $10 billion shipping portfolio that it inherited as part of its emergency takeover on Sunday,...

Braemar: Record revenue & profitability

Braemar Plc., a provider of expert investment, chartering, and risk management advice to the shipping and energy markets, announced an update on trading...

Oldendorff Carriers announces change of leadership

Effective today, the board of OLDENDORFF CARRIERS has appointed Patrick Hutchins as the new President and CEO of the company. Patrick succeeds Peter Twiss, who...

Global Goods Trade Softening from 2022’s Record Level

International commerce soared to a record of $32 trillion in 2022, but goods trade...

New Hybrid Ferry ‘P&O Pioneer’ Docks At DP World Limassol For Bunkering

P&O Ferries’ newly commissioned Fusion Class vessel ‘P&O Pioneer’ has docked at DP World...

Baltic index gains as capesize rates rebound

The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk...

Minerva puts cost of fuel theft as high as $5.2 bil/year

The bunkering industry is losing as much $5.2 billion of fuel annually to quantity...

Baltic index logs worst day in five weeks on tepid demand for larger vessels

The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk...

Drewry: Port Throughput Index Down 4.5% Year-on-Year

The Drewry Container Port Throughput Indices are a series of calendar adjusted volume growth/decline indices based on monthly throughput data for a sample of...

Port of Los Angeles moves 487,846 container units in February

The Port of Los Angeles processed 487,846 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) in February, a 43% decrease from the previous February’s all-time record. “February declines were...

Piraeus Port Authority: Strong growth in 2022

PPA S.A. announced Full Year 2022 financial results, marking a consecutive year of growth with a turnover of €194.6 million compared to €154.2 million...

WLP welcomes 14 strategic Vietnamese partners to its growing network of international traders

World Logistics Passport (WLP), a Dubai-led global initiative designed to smooth the flow of world trade, has welcomed 14 Vietnamese partners to its global...

Port of Hedland February Iron Ore Exports 2% Down

Pilbara Ports Authority has delivered a total monthly throughput of 54.8 million tonnes (Mt) for February 2023. This throughput was a five per cent increase...