Corn prices are on the rise for the third consecutive day. China, which is a key consumer of the commodity, has recorded increased demand by buying the largest amount since July 2020. The country is also committed to buying a record amount of ethanol in this year’s first half. On Wednesday, corn futures were trading at a high of around $543, which its highest level since July 2013.
Rising demand for corn in China
Corn prices are reacting to the increased demand from China. On Tuesday, the US Department of Agriculture indicated that the Middle Kingdom bought 1.36 million tonnes of the commodity from US private exporters over the past weekend. This is the largest amount since July 2020.
In the department’s recent report on export sales, the undelivered sales and exports of the produce to the Asian country for the 2020/21 marketing year stood at 11.7687 million tonnes. The figure is in comparison to the 60,000 tonnes recorded last year as the aggregate for 2019/20.
The high demand from China is in line with the estimates included in USDA’s January report. In its WASDE report, the department predicted that Chinese corn imports for the 2020/21 would be about 17.5 million tonnes. The figure represented an increase of 9.9 million from the numbers recorded in the 2019/20 period. It would be an even further increase from the 4.48 million tonnes imported in 2018/19.
China’s strong demand for corn has been observable since the previous year. The Economic Research Service, which is a department within the USDA, has stated that since the beginning of 2020, the country has imported about 10 million tonnes of the produce. The amount exceeds the 7.2 million tonnes
