U.S. Corn Supply, Chinese Demand Focus During Virtual Conference

资料来源：美国谷物委员会

相关的和新鲜的市场情报是一个帮助l component of working in China - both for U.S. farmers and agribusinesses and for Chinese grain traders, importers and end-users. A collaborative conference held twice each year by JCI, a prominent agricultural intelligence and consulting organization based in China, the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) and the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) enables these groups to ask questions and provide unique insights related to the grain and oilseed trade.

今年春季的会议从3月至五月推迟，并从面对面的会议转移到在线格式。尽管如此，它仍然允许促进未来业务所需的信息流。

“The virtual JCI conference was a well-attended, well-planned webinar that was also very timely,” said Reece Cannady, USGC manager of global trade, who presented during the event. “This year, China is poised to be one of our largest U.S. corn buyers - so talking about the supply, quality and planting prospects for the crop is exciting.”

USGC是JCI会议的原始赞助商，该赞助商于2000年代中期开始。现在，这些事件是中国最大的饲料行业会议。通过这些活动，理事会继续共享美国玉米，高粱和干燥蒸馏厂与Solubles（DDGS）的市场和质量信息，并与顶级进口商共享市场，并与主要客户互动有关美国饲料谷物供应和优质问题。

“The JCI conferences are a really successful means for USGC to engage with a wide swath of the industry - end-users, traders, feed companies, livestock companies, risk management brokers, foreign exporters and, of course, Chinese importers,” said Bryan Lohmar, USGC director in China.

今年的虚拟会议将课程分为三个早晨，以更好地容纳不同时区的国际演讲者和参与者。Lohmar估计，大约有120名参与者参加了今年的每一次会议。

This year’s corn session featured Cannady presenting on U.S. corn production, supply and demand. He and Lohmar also participated in a question-and-answer panel. Questions during both sessions focused on expectations for U.S. corn acreage and how the drop in oil prices and stall in livestock processing would affect what farmers are planting this spring.

The conference also offered Council participants the chance to ask their own questions of Chinese end-users, importers and grain traders regarding feed demand following African Swine Fever (ASF) virus and COVID-19-related shifts in consumer eating patterns, factors that could affect purchases of U.S. corn and sorghum.

In his comments, Lohmar reported Chinese hog prices, while still high, are trending downward, indicating restored inventories after ASF decimated operations in 2019 and providing support for slowly growing demand for feed. The poultry market, which expanded significantly when consumers switched from eating pork to chicken, is vacillating due to the COVID-19 shutdown of the schools, workplace cafeterias and restaurants where chicken is more commonly served instead of being cooked at home. Despite these tumultuous events, demand for feed corn has remained relatively steady, and demand for meat by Chinese consumers is also slowly returning as parts of the country are reopening with restrictions.

Lohmar说：“整个过程中对玉米的需求一直相当强烈，这向我表明，中国生产者的比例较大，正在使用玉米和大豆进食。”“他们不使用玉米的替代品，因为这些替代品更便宜；他们之所以使用玉米，是因为他们可以相信它是饲料成分。”

鉴于Covid-19，USGC将继续与中国利益相关者和该地区其他利益相关者和其他人举行虚拟会议。5月下旬，USGC将为北亚客户提供供应和需求研讨会，这是一项涉及中国，日本，韩国和台湾办事处办事处的联合计划。

了解有关USGC在中国工作的更多信息。