MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina to begin corn exports to China next July

Argentina and China had over a decade ago tried to open up the trade of Argentine corn, most of it GMO, and Beijing was reluctant, and now allegedly has accepted.

At times the world's third supplier of corn, (behind Brazil and the US), Argentina expects to begin sending corn shipments to China as of next July, the head of the grains' exporter chamber, Gustavo Idigoras revealed. The Argentine government had anticipated that it was targeting corn exports to China, once pending import licenses had been awarded.

 “Yesterday they confirmed to us that all the conditions are in place to move forward with shipments to China starting in July,” said Idigoras, the head of the CIARA-CEC chamber.

“The Chinese market is growing with 20 million tons of imports per year. Brazil is the first supplier. So Argentina has all the conditions to be a strong and reliable supplier of corn for animal feed,” Idigoras added.

The two countries struck an initial agreement last year to open exports of Argentine corn to China, but official data show that no shipments of cereal have been made to Chinese ports since it was signed, with outstanding issues to resolve.

The two countries had over a decade ago tried to open up the trade of Argentine corn, most of which is genetically modified. A small amount was allowed into China in 2012 as a test, but Beijing’s concerns around GMO held things back. But now that hold-up appears to have eased.

Argentina’s government said that China had authorized for import two varieties of herbicide tolerant GMO corn that are grown in the country, easing exports paperwork and helping Chinese importers to get permits.

Argentine farmers are in the initial stages of harvesting corn for the 2023/24 season, whose production is estimated at 47.5 million tons by the major Rosario grains exchange.