Projected corn use slashed for China
World corn use in 2008/09 is cut 5.0 million tonnes this month to 772.4 million, with foreign corn use down 7.6 million tonnes to 510.8 million. According to the USDA forecast China’s forecast domestic corn use is down 6.0 million tonnes this month to 152.0 million.
Feed and residual use of corn is trimmed 1.0 million tonnes to 110.0 million as poultry flocks have reportedly not rebounded as much as usual after the New Year holidays.
Increased unemployment is expected to limit meat demand. Projected food, seed, and industrial use of corn in China is cut 5.0 million tonnes to 42.0 million.
The price of corn in China is high relative to prices in most of the rest of the world because the government has purchased a significant portion of the crop in order to support prices to farmers.
The government has moved to reduce the use of corn for ethanol production, favouring tubers as an alternative. Moreover, corn starch demand for industrial purposes is down due to the weak economy.
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