China's corn imports set a monthly record in November, despite the large local harvest

BEIJING (Reuters) - China reported record corn imports of 3.59 million tonnes in November, according to customs data released on Monday, adding to a record domestic harvest and putting further pressure on prices in the world's second largest global producer. Corn imports in November increased 384% from a year earlier, coinciding with a record domestic corn production of 288.84 million tons this year, following a government effort to increase production of the staple grain for food security purposes . November import volumes were higher than expected, mainly due to rapid loading from Brazil as well as Ukraine, said Rosa Wang, an analyst at JCI, a Shanghai-based agricultural consultancy. "Large arrivals of imported grains to southern China will reduce the market share of Chinese local corn," she said. This means that less domestic corn will be needed to be delivered south from China's main corn-producing areas in the Northeast, which in turn will hurt prices, Wang said. China's most ...