Nikkei Chinese reported that, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), China’s effort to increase its domestic soybean and corn production will drive down the global market price of grain. China has cancelled orders of a cumulative 1.1 million tons of U.S. corn that were scheduled to be imported from late April to mid-May, or 7.4 percent of the U.S. annual exports to China.
China’s reduction of purchases and the expected U.S. harvest took the futures price of corn on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange down to around $5 per bushel in mid-May. This was the lowest point since October 2021 and 30 percent down from the peak price in the spring of 2022.
Soybean’s price also fell similarly as China also canceled deals.
Among agricultural products, China can roughly stay self-reliant on rice and wheat, but it has to import other products. Bejing is the world’s largest importer of soybeans and corn. It imports 59 percent of the global import volume and 14 percent of corn.
Source: Nikkei Chinese, June 12, 2023
https://zh.cn.nikkei.com/politicsaeconomy/commodity/52591-2023-06-12-05-01-11.html