South Korea: Grain and Feed Update
Rice ending stocks are projected to decrease to 1.7 million metric tons (MMT) and 1.2 MMT in marketing year (MY) 2016/17 and MY 2017/18 respectively, as the Korean government has begun allowing the use of rice for consumption in animal feed. Projections of calendar year (CY) 2017 and 2018 rice imports from the United States are revised upward to 165,000 MT and 160,000 MT respectively. Corn consumption numbers for both MY 2016/17 and MY 2017/18 are revised down to 9.4 MMT and 9.8 MMT to reflect the decreased demand for feed grade corn caused by both Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) and as a result of displacement as rice is beginning to be used in feed. Meanwhile, the projection for MY 2016/17 imports of corn is revised downward to 9.2 MMT as demand for feed grade corn diminished over the year because the poultry sector was hit with HPAI. Wheat production is expected to decrease to 32,000 MT in MY 2017/18 from 39,000 MT in MY 2016/17 due to lower yields and less harvested area. Wheat imports from the United States rose to 1.3 MMT in MY 2016/2017 from 1.2 MMT the previous year thanks to feed grade wheat exports.
