Chicago, 4 October 2011: Reuters

China may need to import five times as much corn as the U.S. government expects over the next year, an industry group said on Tuesday, setting the stage for another potentially explosive year for prices. The U.S. Grains Council, which just completed a crop tour in China, said the record harvest won't be enough to meet demand in the world's most populous nation, where expanding consumption of meat is undermining decades of self-sufficiency and helped fuel the record surge in prices earlier this year.

"In spite of the current economic pressures, there is evidence of strong and increasing demand for higher quality protein diets," said Don Hutchens, executive director of the Nebraska Corn Board, who was on the China tour that sampled more than 300 fields in late September.

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Reuters - for Commodities Now