China will likely sell off the last of its ageing corn stocks this year, an agriculture ministry official said on Wednesday, returning stocks of the grain in the world's No. 2 consumer to "normal levels". Beijing had accumulated hundreds of millions of tonnes of corn in temporary state stocks under a now-abandoned policy aimed at supporting farmers.
Sales of those stocks progressed faster than expected in 2018, said the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in a statement on Wednesday, with more than 100 million tonnes sold. It did not say how much was left but ministry official Tang Ke told reporters at a briefing that sales were expected to continue at a fast pace again this year.
"2019 will very likely be the end of this round of corn de-stocking in China, and the ending stocks are expected to return to normal levels," he said. China's grain stockpiles are closely watched by global markets as they influence traded volumes and can cap demand for imports.
The country's 2018/19 corn supply deficit was seen at 26.5 million tonnes in the ministry's latest forecast. Tang said tight supply and rising demand could lead to an increase in corn planting this year, bucking the recent trend.
China's corn output fell 0.7 percent to 257.3 million tonnes in 2018, after farmers reduced acreage planted with the grain by 0.6 percent. But with expansion of industrial processing plants in the northeast, demand is continuing to increase, and has supported prices in 2018, said Tang.