Firsthand look at China spring crop progress

After years as a significant export competitor in Asian markets, China has recently emerged as a net corn importer, and most analysts expect Chinese imports to rise in the near term. The speed and scale of this shift and the potential of Chinese efforts to ramp up production are major uncertainties for corn producers and traders around the world.

These and other questions in the Chinese grain belt were explored last week by a US Grains Council (USGC) survey team, which got a firsthand look at the rapid progress of Chinese agriculture racing to meet surging domestic demand. Nebraska corn grower Dennis Gengenbach of Smithfield returned Saturday from China, where he surveyed the corn growing conditions and studied the Chinese government policies that affect acreage, marketing and demand. Read more ...

This blog is written by Martin Little, The Global Miller, published and supported by the GFMT Magazine and the International Milling Directory from Perendale Publishers