China’s COFCO imports Canadian durum wheat for the first time

China’s state-run food group COFCO Group said it had imported Canadian durum wheat for the first time, which it would process into flour.

China mainly imports finished pasta or flour processed from durum wheat, COFCO said in a statement.

“This direct import of durum wheat has enriched the structure of China’s imported wheat varieties, facilitated the extension of COFCO’s products upstream and further improved COFCO’s ‘from field to table’ full industry chain model,” it said.

COFCO said the durum wheat was purchased by COFCO International and will be transferred to COFCO Haijia (Xiamen) Flour Co. Ltd for processing.

China has already imported almost 2 million metric tons of durum wheat from Canada this year, according to customs data.

Canada accounts for around half of the global trade of hard wheat used to make pasta.

China has imported record volumes of wheat this year, with rain damage to its crop and worries over dry weather in exporting nations fuelling Beijing’s appetite to buy while prices are low.

The world’s largest wheat consumer has imported 10.83 million tons of wheat in the first 10 months of this year, a 37.7% surge from a year ago, customs data showed.

Tags: China, COFCO, Canada, durum