Indiana Grain Company, LLC

Posted: 09/29/09

By: tomgrisafi

The U.S. Grains Council forecast a nearly 10 percent drop in Chinese corn production in 2009 due to drought in some areas, but said government stocks of corn were currently sufficient to meet the country's needs.

Corn prices have been rising in some parts of China due to localized shortages, but imports from the United States remain unlikely in the near term, USGC said Monday.

USGC projected China's 2009 corn crop currently being harvested at 148.79 million tonnes after an annual crop tour of farms in the world's second largest corn producing country.

The USGC estimate was below the U.S. Agriculture Department's latest forecast for 160.0 million tonnes, and China's National Grains and Oils Information Center (CNGOIC) September estimate of 165.5 million tonnes.

China's largest grain trader and corn processor COFCO last week forecast the crop at 148 million tonnes.

The USGC said its estimate was down 9.7 percent from CNGOIC's final 2008 production estimate. China's national average yield was calculated at 4.96 tonnes per hectare, or about 79 bushels per acre.

Source: Reuters, Forbes

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