South Korea: Grain and Feed Annual
MY 2016/17 corn imports are forecast to decrease 200,000 MT to 9.8 MMT due to competitively-priced wheat replacing corn for feed use. U.S. corn imports are expected to stay at 3.0 MMT accounting for 31 percent of total Korean imports, up from 25 percent in the current marketing year. Meanwhile, MY 2015/16 U.S. corn exports to Korea are revised down to 2.5 MMT, offset by cheaper origins from South America and Eastern Europe. MY2016/17 wheat imports are forecast at 4.56 MMT, while MY 2015/16 imports are projected to reach 4.35 MMT due to the availability of competitively-priced feed grade wheat. In an effort to reduce bloated ending stocks, Korea is allowing rice from the 2012 crop to be used in animal feed for the first time. The Korean government released 99,000 MT of brown rice from the 2012 crop for this purpose, with plans to continue under a rice reduction program.
