Grain Consumption for Starch and Ethanol Production

By CnAgri2013-05-27 11:34:12 Print Grain consumption for alcohol production was estimated to be 3.597 million MT in April and 14.843 million MT in January ~ April, up 7.88% and 7.16% respectively on the year-on-year basis.
 
Grain consumption for starch and ethanol production was estimated to be 7.125 million MT in April, 5.73% less than the month before but 7.17% more than the same period of last year. Grain consumption for starch and ethanol production totaled 28.662 million MT in January ~ April. Starch mills produced 2.36 million MT starch at the cost of 3.53 million MT corn in April.
 
Corn price was RMB2,394/MT in April, up 0.08% over the month before and up 4.33% on the year-on-year basis, adjusted for currency value change. Starch mills gained a profit of RMB5.17% but ethanol mills suffered a loss of 3.24% in April.
 
Grain consumption for various uses plus waste totaled 46.333 million MT in April, resulting in an inventory of 323 million MT at the end of April, suggesting a consumption index of 6.99.
 
The grain inventory in April consisted of 118 million MT paddy, 126 million MT corn, 49.26 million MT wheat, 1.176 million MT barley, etc. Of the total grain stock, 135 million MT were with state-run companies, 71.48 million MT with farmers and 86.1 million MT with traders and grain-processing mills.
 
Grain procurement totaled 223 million MT in China in 2012/2013 by April, of which 98.338 million MT were procured by state-run companies. Farmers sold 89.55% of their harvested grains, more than the same period of last year.
 
Grain production was 589.57 million MT in 2012. Grain imports totaled 14.21 million MT between May of 2012 and April of 2013. Grain exports are estimated to be 580,000 MT in the crop year. Grain consumption for various uses is estimated to be 587 million MT in 2012/2013. Grain inventory is predicted to be 230 million MT at the end of this crop year, suggesting a safety index of 39.44%, higher than last year.
 
In the 2013/2014 crop year, planted grain acreage, grain production and grain imports are predicted to be 111 million hectares, 594 million MT and 16 million MT respectively. While supply goes up, consumption slows down. Year-end inventory and safety index are predicted to go up to 242 million MT and 40.42% respectively.



From “China Grains Market Weekly Report”