Taiwan Won't Extend China Corn Imports

U.S. corn exporters got some positive news last week when Taiwan's government said it had rejected an industry request that it allow corn imports from China to continue until the end of March.

The decision means the end of the near-term threat of further competition from cheaper Chinese corn for the key Taiwanese market.

"The supply crunch caused by the U.S. port shutdown has eased. We think it's not necessary to grant such an extension," an official with the Board of Foreign Trade under the economics ministry told Reuters News Service.

Last October, Taiwan lifted a 50-year ban on corn imports from China until the end of 2002, the lockout of longshoremen at U.S. West Coast ports delayed shipments, tightening supply and pushing up prices.

In December, the R.O.C. Federation of Swine Cooperatives, which represents about two thirds of Taiwan's pig farmers, asked the government to extend the opening to reduce import costs.

The rejection of that request followed a recommendation by the Council of Agriculture to deny the extension for the reasons cited by the ministry.

Editors note: Richard Brock, Soybean Digest's Marketing Editor, is president of Brock Associates, a farm market advisory firm, and publisher of The Brock Report.

To see more market perspectives, visit Brock's Web site at

www.brockreport.com

Editors note: Richard Brock, Soybean Digest's Marketing Editor, is president of Brock Associates, a farm market advisory firm, and publisher of The Brock Report.

To see more market perspectives, visit Brock's Web site at