South Korea: Grain and Feed Update
Notable updates for MY 2016/17 include an increase in Korean wheat consumption to 4.9 Million Metric Tons (MMT), due to anticipated increases in consumption of competitively-priced feed grade wheat. MY 2015/16 corn consumption forecast is revised up to 10.3 MMT from the previous report. In MY 2015/16, U.S. corn exports to Korea remain unchanged from the previous forecast at 2.5 MMT, down more than 1.5 MMT from the previous year due to strong competition with South American and Eastern European/Black Sea Region countries. Post’s forecast for rice production for MY 2016/17 (harvest ends by October & marketing starts in November) is revised down to 3.93 million MMT, decreasing 70,000 metric tons (MT) from the initial forecast. MY 2016/17 ending stocks (as of the end of October 2017) are forecast to increase to 1.83 MMT or 42 percent of total consumption due to recent years of overproduction caused by higher yielding varieties. In an effort to reduce historically-high stocks, the Korean government is allowing rice from the 2012 crop to be used in animal feed for the first time.
