The China National Grain and Oils Information Center (CNGOIC) said imports by the world's second largest corn consuming nation are expected to fall to 2.4 million tonnes in the 12 months ending in September 2013, down 54 percent on the year, after a drought-driven price surge caused a halt in purchases from the United States.
Meanwhile, consumption was expected to rise 9.6 percent to 205.6 million tonnes as a result of an expansion in hog herds. China's domestic corn harvest rose 8 percent this year to a record 208.13 million tonnes. CNGOIC said China was unlikely to import any corn at all until April 2013, depending on domestic and overseas prices. The worst drought in decades in the United States, the world's top exporter, has driven up US corn prices, which are around 4 percent higher than domestic corn prices quoted in the southern city of Shenzhen. Domestic corn prices weakened after the record harvest, and corn processors have kept production relatively low as a result of poor sales of downstream products such as starch and alcohol.