Coronavirus has prompted a surge in corn prices in China, even as the pandemic has hammered global demand for the crop, resulting in a speculative frenzy and a problem for policymakers.
Corn futures traded in Dalian have risen about 20 per cent since Covid-19 began spreading in China in February. Over the same period, prices for US corn futures have fallen 12 per cent.
The jump has pushed food inflation in China into double-digits, an uncomfortably high level for Beijing, in recent months. It has also piled pressure on the country, the world’s second-largest corn consumer, to boost imports that have been hit by the global health crisis and tensions with Washington.