The pace of U.S. corn imports to the People’s Republic of China fell to a seven-month low. This is the result of a whole series of denials by Chinese importers of contracted cargo with American grain onboard; the imports were denied due to suspicion of content of unlicensed in China varieties of genetically modified corn MIR162, developed by Syngenta.
As a result, in April 2014 the volume of imports of U.S. corn to China amounted to only 8,568 tons, and 12,023 tons in March; this is despite the fact that back in November 2013 this figure was 787,124 tons. Total import volume of corn to China in March and April was 93,123 tons; more than half of it was grain of Ukrainian origin.
Traditionally, the United States is a key supplier of grain to China; the observed situation, however, opens a lot more prospects for alternative suppliers. Ukraine received its permission to supply corn to China only last year, yet it is steadily moving towards leadership on the Chinese import market. Since October 2013 China rejected over 1.2 million tons of American corn, while country’s total grain import in October-April amounted to 2.9 million tons. Country’s grain imports during the season will be, according to expert’s forecast, 4.5 million tons.
Taking that, the problematic American corn MIR162 type will be licensed no earlier than in July, or possibly even later. Thus, the observed situation is quite favorable for Ukrainian exporters and creates significant prospects for them to strengthen their position on the Chinese market for imported corn.