By Jim Boyce | China’s baijiu needs are helping to alleviate a global feed grain glut, reports Stock & Land. According to reporter Gregor Herald:
Mark Best, senior sorghum trader with Nidera said while the Chinese feed grain sector was not buying Australian sorghum there were still some orders for use in making baijiu.
“It is not bulk shipments or anything, but there are orders for containers of sorghum which is a good alternative market for the grain,” he said.
The site Grain Central notes that China has become an important force in global sorghum markets in recent years:
China did not import sorghum in volume until 2013, but by 2016 China was importing up to 10 million tonnes annually for animal feed and baijiu production.
The majority of imported sorghum (8mt) was sourced from the United States, while about 1.6mt came fro Australia. While mostly used for animal feed, some of this was used in Baijiu.
The post also covers attempts by Australian universities and trade groups to find ways to increase sorghum exports to China.
Bloomberg has also written on the topic of sorghum exports to China and noted that U.S. planting of the grain is increasing.
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