BEIJING: China's agriculture ministry on Thursday kept its forecast for corn imports in the 2020/21 year unchanged from last month's 7 million tonnes, even as the global market expects imports to far exceed the number.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture last month nearly doubled its forecast for China's corn imports this year to 13 million tonnes because of soaring domestic prices and rising feed demand as the Chinese hog sector rebuilds after a deadly pig disease.

An unofficial projection by the USDA's attache in Beijing estimated imports to hit 22 million tonnes in the year through September 2021.

In its monthly China Agriculture Supply and Demand Estimates (CASDE) report, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said that temperatures in the northeast are expected to be higher than a year ago with less rain, helping corn sales this year.

"Effective supply will continue to increase and prices are expected to stabilize," it said.

The U.S. has already shipped more than 3 million tonnes of corn to China since October and China has booked almost 8 million tonnes more for the marketing year, according to USDA data from Dec. 3.

The Chinese ministry kept all other forecasts unchanged from last month but slightly raised its forecast for 2020/21 sugar imports by 400,000 tonnes to 3.9 million tonnes.