China May Plant More Corn as Prices Increase

Analysts expect corn acreage in China to increase this year as corn prices soar and soybean prices drop. Since September 2017 soybean prices have dropped 10 percent while corn prices increased 11 percent. Attractive profits are encouraging farmers to plant more corn in 2018 despite a government plan to reduce a 200 million tonne corn stockpile by increasing soybean acreage. Planting is expected to start next month and while soybean acreage will likely decrease to 7.2 million hectares, market dynamics indicate corn acreage will increase despite previous forecast reductions by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). China’s Agriculture Minister urges farmers to not “blindly” increase their corn production despite higher prices in order to stay on track with the government plan. With China being a top five world wide corn producer, shifts in production would have global implications. Gro Intelligence subscribers can analyze key corn data to stay up-to-date with global market trends in the 2018 growing season.