China Could Be Looking to Import More Corn
By Shelby Myers
American Farm Bureau Federation
As of October 22, U.S. accumulated and outstanding corn sales to China total approximately 10.6 MMT, well above USDA’s projection for Chinese corn imports of 7 MMT and above the calendar year 7.2 MMT low-tariff-rate quota. Given this information, the potential for China to increase its low-tariff-rate quota for corn has spurred speculation about the Chinese buying millions of tons of additional U.S. corn in the new marketing year. Increased demand for corn in animal feed combined with a lower-than-anticipated domestic supply has pushed China to book more global corn purchases. Some analysts ultimately expect China to import as much as 17 MMT of corn.