Global Commodity Analytics and Consulting President Mike Zuzolo thinks the uncertainty and delay in South America’s crop is motivating China to shore up its supply of feed grains. “With the Brazilian crop delayed and the Argentine crop hurt, the Chinese are moving more aggressively to get boats on the water,” said Zuzolo. “Also because of the logistical issue of the sheer amount of what they’re buying, to get it out of the U.S. ports and into the Chinese ports, you can’t buy both corn and soybeans. There would be bottlenecks.” Zuzolo said China is shifting to more poultry and other sources of protein due to African Swine Fever, increasing corn demand. “What we may see is a shifting of per-capita consumption from pork to poultry, because of both high price and less confidence in pork. This includes boosting poultry production.”
