Argentina is on track to start long-awaited corn shipments to China in July, the country’s grain export chamber told Reuters on Tuesday. “Yesterday they confirmed to us that all the conditions are in place to move forward with shipments to China starting in July,” said Gustavo Idigoras, the head of the CIARA-CEC chamber. Argentina’s government previously said it was aiming to start corn exports to China by July, but that there were pending administrative procedures to obtain import licenses.
Earlier on Tuesday, Argentina’s agriculture ministry said China had authorized imports of two varieties of herbicide tolerant GMO corn grown in the country, easing the way for shipments of corn to China. The two countries struck an initial agreement last fall to open up exports of Argentine corn to China, but official data show that no shipments have been made to Chinese ports since then. The opening of China’s market will be a major boost for Argentina but will only add to competition for Chinese demand.
