We now find out the real numbers...not so good if your China...record production and still has to import China acknowledges need for record and sizeable corn imports...the the hogs get the blame for it...as we all know...corn is a very potash intensive crop and demand will continue to improve corn crop yeilds...farmers make good money on corn and have more cash to buy fertilizers the next year...you kinda get the impression that the Chinese are getting a taste for pork...and do not want to give it up anytime soon...there is a price to pay for increased protein rich diets...
Karma

China acknowledged what analysts have long proclaimed, that it will make substantial corn imports, to keep its huge hog herd in feed and meet growing demand for pork among its enriched population.

The China National Grain and Oils Information Centre, China's official crop think tank, pegged the country's corn imports in 2011-12 at a record 5m tonnes.

While the figure is still lower than estimates from many other observers, with the US Grains Council earlier this month forecasting that China requiresimports of up to 10m tonnes, it represents a change of tack from an insistence by the country that it can broadly meet its own demand.

Weilu Yang, CNGOIC deputy director, told the International Grains Council in June that was it was "improbable" that China would become ever-more dependent on corn imports, flagging the potential for raising yields.

'Stark changes'

Tuesday's forecasts "confirm strong demand even if our estimates are 8m-9m tonnes", Agritel, the Paris-based consultancy, said.

At Barclays Capital, analyst Sudakshina Unnikrishnan said Tuesday's CNGOIC figure was "unusual in being relatively high" for an official Chinese figure. Chinese statistics are often viewed as often inflating production, while understating needs.

The forecast reflects "the stark changes in China's demand landscape, which are likely to be reflected in higher import reliance going forward", Ms Unnikrishnan added.