Japan: corn supply crisis eases

17-Mar-2017 - Last updated on 17-Mar-2017 at 14:58 GMT

Feed manufacturers in Japan, under pressure in recent weeks due to a supply shortage of corn arising from the cold weather in the US, told Reuters the crisis has eased.

Mitsubishi Corp, among other traders, is said to have purchased corn from China, offloading some 15,000 tons of the grain from Chinese commodities giant, COFCO. That sale marks the first time Japan has imported corn from China in seven years.

Though feed producers in Japan are unlikely to see corn inventories back to normal until April or May, sources told Reuters.

Blizzards and rain in the northwestern US early this year hindered transport of grain to ports, which resulted in long delays in getting corn to Japan's main supplier.

Japanese feed producers reportedly used around 330,000 tons of corn from emergency stockpiles last month.

The Asian country imported around $2bn worth or 10 million metric tons (MMT) of feed corn in 2016, $1.3bn or 7 MMT of which was from the US, according to the USDA.