Well-known Chinese news site Sina recently reported that according to the latest statistics from Customs, China imported 403,881 tons of corn from Ukraine in May. This caused the total amount of corn imported from Ukraine to reach 1.55 million tons so far this year (as of May). That volume was near 90 percent of China’s total corn imports. China has been trying to establish the strategy of diversifying its supply sources for food and oil seeds. Since 2012, China has had in place a US$3-billion “loan for corn” agreement with Ukraine, which quickly became China’s largest corn supplier. Until the end of last year, the United States was China’s largest corn supplier. In the first five months of this year, the import volume from the United States sharply dropped by ninety-five percent. With a tougher relationship with Russia, Ukraine’s struggling agriculture is getting more and more dependent on China’s need for cereals and meat. U.S. senior economist Fred Gale suggested that this trend is in line with China’s strategy of investing in some of the “neglected regions.”
Source: Sina, July 6, 2015
http://finance.sina.com/bg/economy/sinacn/20150706/16421292316.html