WASHINGTON, DC, US — The US Department of Agriculture’s 24-hour reporting service on March 16 indicated China purchased 1,156,000 tonnes of US corn for delivery in 2020-21. It was the first Chinese purchase of such magnitude in several weeks.

The transaction increased Chinese purchases of US corn for delivery in the current marketing year to at least 19,894,600 tonnes, given exports and undelivered sales of US corn to China for 2020-21 totaled 18,738,600 tonnes in the most recent USDA weekly Export Sales report covering the period from Sept. 1, 2020, to March 4, 2021. Chinese purchases of US corn in 2019-20, in contrast, were negligible, totaling about 61,000 tonnes through March 4, 2020.

Last week’s purchase likely will have the USDA revising its forecast for Chinese corn imports from all origins in 2020-21 from the current projection at 17.5 million tonnes.

China is the largest purchaser of US corn thus far in 2020-21 far surpassing Mexico, typically the largest buyer of US corn. Exports and undelivered sales of US corn to Mexico through March 4, 2021, for 2020-21 totaled 12,142,800 tonnes.