Beijing is expected to allow more exports of corn later this year as damage from drought is unlikely to be serious, an executive from Jillian Grain Group (JGG), one of China's two authorised exporters, said on Tuesday.
Jingo Jain Hue, vice chairman of the company based in the country's top corn-producing province of Jillian, told a conference the government might allow more exports this month or in August when the outlook for the 2007 crop was likely to become clearer.
He also said China was unlikely to import corn in the next 1-2 years, although it was set to emerge as a net importer in future because the country's crop would not be able to cover demand.
Jingo said China was likely to have a corn surplus of 4.48 million tonnes in the current marketing year, with the 2007 crop expected to reach a record high of 147 million tonnes, up from 145.5 million last year.
Earlier this year, Beijing issued the first Bach of 2007 corn export quotas of about 1.4 million tonnes, though it was unclear if it would go ahead with its plan to hand out the second batch estimated at 1.6 million tonnes, due to recent high corn prices.