China will offer 3.4 million tonnes of corn from state reserves this week, up nine-fold from the previous week, with the excess of nearly 3 million tonnes coming from its four north-eastern provinces, according to an official website.(www.grainmarket.com.cn).
China began selling corn from its state reserves in April, a month earlier than last year, to reduce its stocks that have ballooned, with the government offering farmers high rates for their crop but unable to offload the grain at prices above values in the international market. Beijing has stockpiled a total of 82 million tonnes of corn during the 2014/15 scheme which ended on April 30. The volume is higher than earlier estimated by traders. State corn sales last month were sluggish because government set high bidding prices while domestic demand stays weak.