- Country seeks to bolster prices as farmers prepare to plant
- Corn prices in China near lowest in more than three years
Chinese customs have asked some traders to limit deliveries of foreign corn into bonded areas in a move aimed at easing domestic oversupply and supporting prices for farmers before the planting season.
Traders use this method to bring in grain at cheaper rates. The country has an official corn-import quota of 7.2 million tons, which benefits from a tariff of just 1%. Above that, cargoes are subject to duties of 65%. However, corn brought into bonded areas can be blended with other ingredients and processed into animal feed, which is then imported at a lower duty.
Local officials are asking traders and processors to keep arrivals below levels the previous year, said the people, who declined to be identified as they are not authorized to speak publicly. Authorities stepped up checks on cargoes and tightened requirements for processors, according to one of the people.