High Expectations for New Corn Price This is the time of the year when the Chinese government's procurement price for new crop corn becomes a hot topic among growers. Corn growers along China's Corn Belt hold expectations as high as $333.33/MT. The Chinese government's corn procurement price last year was around $305/MT. There are several reasons for growers' high expectations, such as:

The continual rise in corn production. In 2012, the cost of seed increased 10-15 percent and the cost of fertilizers rose 6-12 percent, while land rental was up by 15-30 percent. Heavy spending on protecting the crop from a series of natural disasters including drought, pests, typhoon and low temperatures in September.

Moreover, the wide gap between...