U.S. Corn Exports Get Unexpected Bump from China. More on the Way?

U.S. corn exports received an unexpected bump this week when China purchased 1.084 million tonnes, marking its largest buy of the crop since May of 2021. 676,000 of the purchase was old crop corn, with 408,000 as new crop. The timing of the purchase caught analysts off guard, but given Ukraine’s limited ability to export commodities, could signal the potential for additional large purchases from China.

China’s need for U.S. corn comes on the heels of the release of the March 31 Prospective Plantings report, which showed that farmers are planting 4% fewer corn acres in 2022 (89.5 million).

Read more on the large export purchase.