Voracious pest threatens China's crops and could boost need for imports
by Jeff Daniels
A crop-eating pest first detected in China about five months ago is spreading rapidly and could hurt production of key crops critical to the populous nation's food supply, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Damage from the so-called fall armyworm, which gorges on corn, soybeans, cotton, rice, and dozens of other crops, could force China to import more corn, rice or soy to makeup for the shortfall.
There are currently tariffs of 25% assessed on some key U.S. crops entering China, including soybeans.
Before the U.S.-China trade war, China was importing about 60% of all U.S. soybean exports .
The problem comes at a time when Chinese authorities have been trying to boost soybean production to reduce the need for imports. China now ranks as the world's largest importer of soybeans.
China produces about 16 million tons of soybeans annually, but it imports more than 80 million tons each year of the commodity used commonly for animal feed and oils.
The insect is now found in at least six provinces in China and the risk of it spreading is seen as high.
China has seen at least 129 cases of the African swine fever since August. Rabobank estimates up to 200 million animals could be affected and production could decline by 30%.
As a result of the swine fever, China may need to increase the production of other proteins, including chicken.
Also, the Asian country may be forced to boost imports of pork, including from the U.S. despite stiff retaliatory tariffs imposed by Beijing.
China isn't the only country dealing with the armyworm. Knutsen, the entomologist, noted that voracious insect already is in other parts of the world, including North America and Africa.
Source: CNBC
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