⁍ The USDA in its Oct. 9 World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report left its forecast of China’s corn imports in the 2020/21 marketing year at 7 million tonnes.

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⁍ Actual shipments totaled only 1.7 million tonnes.

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⁍ China has ramped up purchases of feed grains including U.S. corn in recent months amid tightening supplies and worries about food security.

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– The US Department of Agriculture predicted last month that China would import 7 million tons of corn in the 2020-21 marketing year, but actual shipments to the country reached 10.5 million tons by Oct. 15, Reuters reports. That’s still below China’s quota of 7.2 million tons, but it’s still enough to send corn prices above $4 a bushel for the first time in a year. “Keep in mind that export sales … do get canceled at times,” said Mark Jekanowski, chairman of the USDA’s World Agricultural Outlook Board, speaking at an online meeting for users of USDA data. China’s voracious appetite for grain has been a key driver in global markets, helping to lift benchmark Chicago Board of Trade corn futures above $4 a bushel for the first time in a year. China set its 2021 tariff rate quota for corn at 7.2 million tons, unchanged from 2020. But China’s government is expected to issue more import and buy millions of tons of additional corn in the new crop marketing year, industry sources have told Reuters. Yet, until China changes its quota, the analysts behind the USDA’s WASDE reports are unwilling to speculate. “One of the things we try not to do is forecast changes in policy, including changes in policy by foreign countries,” Jekanowski said.