U.S. corn imports rise in China In the week ended March 24, China purchased 204,000 tons of U.S. corn, the eighth confirmed purchase in the last nine working days. Triggering the purchase of U.S. corn was falling prices cher, combined with uncertainty over exports from Ukraine and better transportation conditions along the Mississippi River, made U.S. supplies the most attractive to Chinese buyers. China, the world's top buyer of the grain, is seeking in this way to compensate for a slow start to its import program, according to traders and analysts.

The latest agreement, announced by Usda, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was on March 24.This is no coincidence, as U.S. corn futures fell 7.3 percent in February and hit seven-month lows on March 10, before China began its buying spree.

Export sales of the grain to China totaled 2,245 million tons in the week ended March 16, the third highest weekly total on record, according to Usda data. Since then, Chinese buyers have booked deals for an additional 832,000 tons of corn.