Corn reserves tapped to ease price pressure

About 500,000 tons of corn from the State Grain Administration's (SGA) central reserves was released to be sold on the market on Tuesday to dampen rising prices, Economic Observer reported (in Chinese). The first batch of corn released, traded on the Anhui Grain Wholesale Market, will be distributed to Shanghai, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi and Sichuan. The price of corn sold by farmers in major production areas has increased 17% from October, reaching US$243 a ton. Rising pork prices are considered the driving force behind the corn price hike. The SGA will soon release another 500,000 tons of corn on the market.