China to be World’s Leading Corn Importer Even With Record Crop

By Chuck Abbott

A favorable growing season and government policies that encourage crop rotations will result in a record corn crop in China, estimated the USDA. China is second to the United States as a corn producer and will be the world’s largest corn importer for the second year in a row, according to the monthly World Agricultural Production report.

The Chinese crop, now being harvested, was forecast at 273 million tonnes, 5% larger than the previous harvest. All the same, China would import 26 million tonnes of corn, the same amount as in the just-ended 2020/21 marketing year, said the monthly WASDE report. Both reports were issued last Friday.

“Imports are unchanged for 2021/22 as the gap between China’s domestic and international corn prices is expected to persist, particularly in the feed-deficit South,” said the WASDE report. Three-fourths of the corn crop is used as livestock feed. China displaced Mexico as the top corn importer in 2020/21.