China turns to U.S. for corn supplies

After several years of supplying corn to its neighbours, China has quietly started importing large amounts of the food staple in an effort to compensate for poor growing conditions and meet the rapidly changing appetites of its swelling middle class.

China’s state-owned trading house COFCO Co. Ltd. confirmed Wednesday that it has bought six cargo loads of corn from the United States. That purchase came two weeks after COFCO bought two other boatloads of corn and some analysts expect China to buy another seven loads in the next few weeks. The purchases mark the first time in nearly four years that China has imported any corn and even then, in August, 2006, the country bought only one cargo load.

News of the Chinese purchase sent corn prices up on the Chicago Board of Trade. The price for the nearest contract hit $3.85 (U.S.) per bushel Wednesday, the highest price since March 5, before settling back to $3.78. That is still far off the record highs of $7.50 in July, 2008.

The total volume of China’s purchases so far – roughly 400,000 tonnes– is a fraction of the U.S. corn harvest. But some analysts say more deals are likely and total sales could be as much as four million tonnes.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/china-turns-to-us-for-corn-supplies/article1566844/

Can't we just accumulate Chinese debt and trade the corn for cheap plastic shit we don't need?

cheap plastic shit out of cornstarch. The perfect circle jerk.

what was in the baby formula and dogfood?

and patented too.

Something's going on.
Ethanol?