China, the world's top wheat consumer, will import 2 million tonnes of the grain in the 2015/16 crop year, up a third from the relatively low levels in the previous year, according to a forecast by an official think tank on Thursday. The country's output in 2015 is expected to be 127 million tonnes, up 0.9 percent from last year, said the China National Grains and Oils Information Centre.
Wheat yields have increased by 0.6 percent, according to the centre, while acreage sown with wheat has gone up slightly. But despite the overall growth in output, China faces a shortage of the high-protein wheat it needs to meet growing appetite for bread and other baked products as incomes rise. Imports are tightly controlled by government quota, which are usually issued in January each year.