China is buying corn from Brazil’s second crop in advance at a time when producers have not even finished sowing the cereal in the world’s third-largest producer of the commodity.

According to grain traders, China bought at least 1.5 million tonnes of the second crop in advance, representing more than 10% of total future sales of the product. Producers have sold around 14 million tonnes of the off-season so far, traders said.

In addition to China, buyers of 2023 second-crop corn from Brazil include Japan and South Korea.

In the absence of adverse weather events, Brazil’s second corn crop could be around 96 million tons, allowing the country to produce the largest total crop in history. Based on current market expectations for this season, Brazil may overtake the US for the first time as the world’s largest corn supplier.

(Source: Diário do Comércio)