Corn demand expands, imports show steady growth

Vietnamese imports of corn for the six months leading up to July 2017 jumped 5.6% year-on-year to 3.53 million tons, continuing last year’s upward tick, according to a report by the Crop Production Department.

When the final figures for 2017 tally in, the imports are expected to fall in line with last year.

The area under corn cultivation in Vietnam reached 1.15 million hectares last year, with a yield of 5.24 million tons, the report continued.

The Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development in turn reported that roughly eight million tons of corn are used annually by domestic companies in the manufacture of animal feed.

According to the Institute report, they have pencilled out projections that showed a potential for Vietnamese farmers to have 1.26 million hectares under corn cultivation by 2020 with significantly increased yields.

But those figures are highly speculative and presume that farmers can right the ship and become more competitive with their foreign counterparts, which appears an unlikely scenario.

With high production costs and lower yields, domestic farmers stand little chance of becoming competitive in the corn segment anytime in the foreseeable future, the report said.

In addition, hybrid corn varieties with higher productivity, quality and protein and much more resistant to pests, cold, drought and other things need to be developed to improve added value, it said.