Miller Magazine Issue 110 / February 2019

50 NEWS MILLER / FEBRUARY 2019 China’s December grain imports plunge amid trade disputes India’s wheat production may cross record 100 MT in 2018-19 China - previously the world’s top sorghum buyer - bought none of the grain in December, compared with 160,000 tons a year earlier, according to data from the General Administration of Customs. Beijing slapped a 25 percent duty on sorghum imports from the United States on July 6, in retaliation over similar trade measures taken by Washington. The United States is the world’s top exporter of the grain, and accounted for 94 percent of Chi- na’s imports in 2017. China’s imports for 2018 fell to 3.65 million tons, down 27.8 percent on the year. Imports of barley, used in both brewing and animal feed, fell to 140,000 tons in December, down 75.4 percent from the same month of 2017. The fall came after Beijing launched an anti-dumping probe in October into shipments of the grain from top supplier Austra- lia. In late December, it added an anti-subsidy probe. For 2018, total barley imports came to 6.82 million tons, down 23.1 per- cent. Australia accounted for three-quarters of China’s barley imports last year, according to the customs data. Meanwhile, pork imports rose slightly from the previous month to 95,384 tons, but were still down 14.4 percent from a year earlier, even with the approaching Lunar New Year fes- tival. Demand for pork normally picks up ahead of the holiday because families typically feast on their favourite meat dishes. The data, which includes muscle cuts but not pig offal, showed total pork imports for 2018 at 1.19 million tons, down 2 percent from the previous year. China has reported about 100 cases of African swine fever since August 2018, pushing up slaughter rates and meat supply in the domestic market. China’s corn imports in December came to 420,000 tons, down 8.2 percent from the same month of 2017, the data also showed. Full-year imports were up 24.7 percent at 3.52 million tons. Wheat imports in December were up 14 per- cent from a year earlier at 240,000 million tons, but 2018 shipments were down 29.9 percent at 3.1 million tons. Sugar imports rose 25.8 percent from a year earlier to 170,000 tons in December. For 2018, sugar imports were up 22.1 percent to 2.8 million tons. REUTERS India’s wheat production might cross 100 million tons, an all-time high level, in the current rabi season, helped by good weather conditions during winter, a senior government official said. Wheat production sto- od at record 99.70 million tons in the 2017-18 crop year (July-June). “Wheat pro- duction is estimated to cross 100 million tons based on the feedback we are getting from state governments,” Agricultu- re Commissioner S K Malhotra told reporters. He was speaking on the sidelines of the Natio- nal Conference on Agriculture Zaid/Summer Campaign 2019. Malhotra said weather condi- tion has been conducive this winter for wheat, a major rabi crop. Wheat output is expected to rise despite fall of around 8 lakh hectare in wheat area to 296 lakh hectare so far this rabi season. The government had increased the minimum support price (MSP) of wheat to Rs 1,840 per quintal from Rs 1,735 per quintal, as part of its decision to fix the support price at least 1.5 times of the production cost. China’s imports of livestock feed grains sorghum and barley shrank further in December, cus- toms data showed, as Beijing’s trade disputes with major exporters continued to shrivel demand.