The corn was offloaded into a warehouse at Chiwan Port in the south of the country in September, and later rejected by quarantine officials, said the people, who declined to be identified as authorities haven’t made the matter public. The destination has not been decided, they said.
China’s state-owned Cofco Ltd. bought the 54,000 ton cargo from a Japanese trading company, two officials with direct knowledge have said previously. This was the first time China rejected a U.S. corn shipment, they said.
“China’s rejection has had a negative impact on importers of U.S. corn, because the message is that no matter how short China’s grain supply is, the government’s tough controls on imports won’t change,” Li Qiang, managing director of Shanghai JC, said from Shanghai. Such uncertainties will increase risks and costs of future imports, he said.
China, the world’s second-biggest corn consumer, may import more than 1.6 million tons of the grain this year, almost all from the U.S., according to the China National Grain & Oils Information Center. That would be the most since about 1994-1995, when the country bought 4.3 million tons, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Still, China’s imports will rise in the long run, and “the government has said it can only maintain a tight balance,” Li said. “From our sources, we learned within three to six months, this particular strain of rejected seeds may be approved.”
China has bought foreign corn and sold from state stockpiles to cool domestic prices that climbed 27 percent in the past 12 months, helping push inflation to the fastest pace in two years.
Two phone calls to Cofco’s media department in Beijing today seeking comment were not returned. A call to the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine in Beijing was not answered.
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