China books biggest deal yet for US corn

CHICAGO: China booked its biggest purchase of US corn yet, the US Agriculture Department said on Friday, as the country tries to meet a surge in demand for animal feed.

USDA said that private exporters reported the sale of 2.108 million tonnes of corn for delivery to China in the 2020/21 marketing year. It was the second-biggest daily sale on record, eclipsed only by a deal for 3.172 million tonnes to the USSR in January 1991.

It also topped China's previous biggest purchase of 1.937 million tonnes of corn in July 2020.

China's government has been looking to boost its corn imports, three industry sources told Reuters in October, after storms and drought damage tightened domestic supplies.

The latest sale follows deals earlier this week that netted China a combined 3.74 million tonnes of US supplies.

Chinese buyers also picked up an additional 132,000 tonnes of corn - about two cargoes worth - for delivery in the 2021/22 marketing year.

The country's corn imports could climb to between 25 million and 27 million tonnes in the current 2020/21 crop year, including 18 to 20 million from the United States, president of Chicago-based consultancy AgResource Co, said on Wednesday.

If realized, that would make China the world's biggest corn buyer. In the 2019/20 marketing year, Chinese corn imports totaled just 7.6 million tonnes.

Chicago Board of Trade corn futures jumped 9-1/4 cents to $5.43-3/4 a bushel in early trading on Friday, threatening to take out the 7-1/2-year high hit on Thursday.