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USDA: CHINA'S WHEAT IMPORTS REACH HIGHEST LEVEL IN MORE THAN TWO DECADES
Sep. 20, 2021
Source: USDA news release
China is the world's largest consumer of wheat, accounting for 19 percent of global wheat consumption in marketing year 2020/21 (July-June), more than four times the U.S. share. China also became a leading importer during 2020/21, with purchases estimated at 10.6 million metric tons, China's highest import total since the 1990s.
USDA forecasts China's 2021/22 imports at 10 million metric tons. Before the 2010/11 marketing year, China's wheat imports typically totaled 1 million metric tons or less. More recently, wheat imports totaled 3 to 5 million metric tons most years between marketing years 2011/12 to 2019/20.
The surge in imports in 2020/21 can be attributed to China's strong demand for wheat use in animal feed, replenishment of the Chinese Government reserves with high-quality wheat, and efforts to meet import commitments in the U.S.-China Phase One trade agreement.
According to China's customs data, the United States supplied 3 million metric tons of 2020/21 wheat imports-approximately a 28-percent share.
This chart first appeared in the USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) report, Potential Wheat Demand in China: Applicants for Import Quota, August 2021, and includes updated data from ERS' Wheat Data product.
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