Chinese commodities trader COFCO expects the amount of maize it buys from Brazil to grow to 3.8 million tonnes this year from 2.5 million tonnes last year, Reuters reports.

In contrast, the news agency says, COFCO expects the amount of soybeans it buys from Brazil to shrink to 5 million tonnes this year from 7 million tonnes last year because African Swine Fever in China has reduced demand there for animal feed.

The report quotes Valmor Schaffer, managing director for grains and oilseeds for COFCO in Brazil, as saying another influence on purchases by his company this year is the preference of Brazilian farmers for growing maize because their last harvest fetched high prices in Chicago.

COFCO is expanding its business in Brazil more than in any other country, buying most of its grain there, Reuters says. The South American state is also home to 7,500 of COFCO’s 11,000 workers outside China, as well as to the company’s crushing facilities, port terminals, sugar and ethanol mills.