China is on a path to become the world’s largest corn importing country in 10 years, surpassing Japan, as the nation expands its livestock production to provide for growing meat demand, according to a report from USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS).
“China’s combined use of corn and soy meal for animal feed is expected to rise from 200 million metric tons to over 300 million metric tons over the 10-year projection period,” the ERS report said. “Chinese animals also consume a variety of other grains, protein meals, bran and hulls from grains, and growing use of these commodities is expected to support the expansion of meat output … China is expected to account for 40 percent of the rise in global corn trade over the coming decade–USDA anticipates that the rapid growth will make China the leading importer of corn by 2023-24.”
The United States will continue to be the primary source of the corn China buys, but Ukraine, Brazil, and Argentina will also be major suppliers, ERS suggests. The full report is available here.
