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China to allow corn imports from Brazil

China will begin allowing Brazilian corn imports this month.  China mainly imports corn from the United States, but after officials turned away over 1 million tonnes due to the presence of an unapproved GMO trait, shipments have been curbed.  Reuters reports Brazilian corn exports to China could weigh on US futures, which have come under pressure since China started rejecting US cargoes last fall.

The news comes a week after China’s biggest grain trader, COFCO Corp. agreed to acquire a majority stake in Noble Group Ltd’s agribusinesses.  Noble owns a number of agricultural assets in South America, including grain storage facilities, soybean processing plants and shipping terminals.

An industry analyst with a Chinese official think-tank says China is adding more supply origins to meet growing demand in the long-term and that Brazilian supplies can be very competitive with those of the United States.