Asia: Crop (continued)
China maintains self-sufficiency of grain in next three years, but becomes a net importer during the later part of the projection period.
- Wheat imports increase to 3 mmt in next few years, but they are not likely to be anywhere close to the historical level of 10 to 12 mmt.
- Slower growth in animal production enables China to maintain net export position in corn in the short-run but eventually becomes a net importer of corn to meet growing domestic consumption.
- Barley imports steadily increase to meet growing demand in the brewing industry.
Financial crisis has decreased Far East Asian corn imports by more than 40 percent this year, but imports will slowly rise as the economies recover.
Japanese corn imports are projected to decline steadily over the period due to import liberalization for meats as part of GATT agreements.
Taiwanese corn imports, which has been declining since 1997 in response to the break out of Foot and Mouth disease, is expected to increase steadily over the projection period due to expanding poultry production and the rebuilding of hog production.