China may increase imports of feed grains from key supplying countries, including Russia, in the 2026/27 agricultural season, reports Interfax with reference to the federal center "Agroexport".
The reason is that in Chinese corn-growing regions, there has been abnormally hot weather since mid-July, heavy rains and floods have been recorded, which created threats to the crop, including its quality. Moreover, in the future, there may be an increase in imports of not only corn, but also its substitutes - barley and sorghum, noted Agroexport.
According to the center, China is a fairly large importer of corn, but in recent years its import has decreased significantly against the backdrop of an increase in its own harvests. Thus, according to the forecast of the US Department of Agriculture, in the current season China will import 5 million tons of corn (1 million tons more than the previous season), while previously up to 29.5 million tons were imported per season. Imports of barley are forecast at 11.2 million tons (2.3 million tons less), sorghum - 6.6 million tons (0.9 million tons less).
According to the report, estimates of possible losses of the corn crop due to weather disasters are not provided, while some analysts believe that against the backdrop of a slight increase (by 0.4%) in sown areas, there will not be a significant reduction in the yield this season. However, deterioration in product quality may increase demand for imported grain.
The center also reported that in January-July this year, China increased purchases of corn by 1.6 times compared to the same period last year, barley by 1.5 times, and sorghum by almost 1.9 times. However, about 93% of the corn came from Brazil, Russia and Argentina. “At the same time, taking into account the agreement between the United States and China on annual purchases of American agricultural products until 2028 (signed in 2026), it cannot be ruled out that part of the volumes this season could be purchased in the United States. Currently, the United States is a key supplier of sorghum to China, and barley is mainly imported from Australia, Canada, Argentina and Russia,” the report says.
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Source: https://www.zerno.ru/node/34259