Corn consumption in China is surging, but supplies are likely to
remain abundant through next year, an industrial expert said
Tuesday.
Wang Ziming, former secretary-general of the China Grain
Business Association, predicted that corn output in 2006 will reach
142 million tons.
Total demand would not exceed 135 million tons even if the
industrial use of corn is growing at an estimated rate of 30
percent, he told a symposium in Beijing. Normal growth in
poultry-raising is 4 percent per year.
The corn price has been going up steadily in the first half of
the year. It has risen from 0.51 yuan to 0.62 yuan per kilogram in
Jilin, a major corn producer in northeast China.
Wang said the price hike is driven by the skyrocketing rise of
sugar prices in the international market, a more robust world
economy and a strong demand for alcohol fueled by China's fast
growth. Corn can be processed into sugar and alcohol.
(Xinhua News Agency August 23, 2006)
