Indonesia forbids the import of corn from China

Lead: Jakarta (Reuters) - Indonesia has decided to ban imports of corn and soybeans from China due to the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Hong Kong, which traders say is expected to hit China's corn exports Q25 traders say several shipments of Chinese corn destined for Indonesia may be cancelled if they cannot be transferred to other destinations According to a Beijing trader who works for an international commodity bank, this is bad news for Chinese corn, but good news for the US market Q25 is currently quoted at US $108 per ton (FOB) for feed corn in China, which has remained stable in the past few weeks Traders say corn prices in China are likely to fall by a few dollars in the near future, but they are reluctant to specify where prices are supported Q25 last week, the head of the livestock Department of Indonesia's Ministry of Agriculture said the ban on Chinese corn and soybean imports was only temporary and would be lifted once it was proved that there was no foot-and-mouth disease in China So far, no FMD has been reported in Hong Kong Q25 Beijing traders said the negative impact of the ban will be mainly reflected in China's corn exports According to q25 traders, almost all of Indonesia's imported corn comes from China If the Indonesian market is lost, it will undoubtedly be a heavy blow to China's corn export Q25 China exported 1.3 million tons of corn to Indonesia in 2002, or about 11% of the total export volume of 11.7 million tons Q25 customs data do not show that Indonesia imported any soybeans from China last year, but traders say the amount of soybeans Indonesia imported from China is negligible Most of Indonesia's annual soybean import demand is met by the United States In 2002, Indonesia imported about 1.5 million tons of soybean Q25 Indonesia's move is good for American corn Last year, the U.S failed in the Asian corn market, while China's corn seized the market with its competitive price In addition, South American corn will benefit from Indonesia's new ban q25
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