DES MOINES, Iowa — China could be about to increase its corn imports, offering American farmers a chance for greater profits, but making it likely U.S. meat producers who use the grain for feed would have to raise their prices.
U.S. farmers said they’re cautious but hopeful about doing more business with China, which needs more corn to feed the expanding livestock herds that supply meat to its growing middle class. They note Hanver Li, chairman of the market research firm Shanghai JC Intelligence Co. Ltd., estimated last month that China’s corn imports would climb from 1.7 million tons this year to as much as 15 million tons by 2015.
China has been reluctant to import corn because a history of devastating famines has demonstrated the importance of self-reliance. But, land and water shortages combined with a resistance to mechanized equipment that could eliminate jobs has made it difficult for farmers to grow all the corn the country needs.
Speaking at the U.S. Grain Council’s annual meeting in Boston, Li said production is being quickly outstripped by the Chinese people’s growing demand for meat, milk and eggs. The Associated Press
