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  • Jan 4th, 2017
  • Comments Off on China takes aim at corn glut with plastics, livestock feed push
China plans to boost production of biodegradable plastics made out of corn and increase the use of the grain as an animal feed in the next three years, the government said on Thursday, the latest effort to absorb a domestic glut that has hurt prices.

Outlining its five-year plan for 2015-2020 for the grains and oils processing industry on Thursday, the state grain bureau said it would support the production of polylactide (PLA), a biochemical material made out of corn starch and sugar and used to produce plastic bags and tableware. It also reiterated its plan to boost corn-based ethanol production by 2020. The statement did not give any targets or further concrete details of the plan, but the document offers an insight into the government's thinking and illustrates the depth of concern about the country's large stockpile of ageing corn.

Copyright Reuters, 2017


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