Corn, as the top of China’s three major food crops, has the largest planting area and the highest total output among all food crops. It holds an irreplaceable strategic position in ensuring national food security, supporting the development of the feed industry and the deep processing sector. In recent years, affected by multiple factors such as the adjustment of domestic and international supply and demand patterns, the periodic decline in prices, and the continuous rise in production costs, the corn industry is facing a structural dilemma of “high output but low efficiency”.
In this context, based on the core data of China’s corn industry, this paper systematically analyzes key indicators such as production, market prices, import and export trade, cost structure and planting income. It systematically examines the supply and demand situation, price fluctuation trends and cost-income changes in the domestic corn market, and particularly compares the differences in corn planting costs and incomes between China and the United States.
Analysis of China’s Corn Production Situation
1.1. The area has achieved positive growth for three consecutive years.
According to the statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2025, the planting area of corn in China reached 6,744.12 million mu (approximately 674 million acres), an increase of 330.15 million mu compared to 2024, with an increase rate of about 0.49%. It has basically returned to the historical peak level of 2015. However, the growth rate has been showing a trend of gradual slowdown, dropping from 4.99% in 2021 to 0.49% in 2025, indicating that the space for further expansion of the corn planting area in China has become relatively limited.
1.2. Output exceeds 300 million tons
From 2015 to 2025, China’s corn production showed an overall trend of “first decline then increase”. Compared with the “U-shaped” rebound in planting area, the recovery speed of production was faster and the increase was greater. From 2015 to 2018, it was a period of slight decline, with the production dropping from 264,992.2 million tons to 257,173.9 million tons, a cumulative decrease of approximately 2.95%. From 2019 to 2025, it entered a period of continuous growth. Except for a slight adjustment in 2020, it achieved positive growth for five consecutive years, rising from 26,077.89 million tons to 30,123.5 million tons, a cumulative increase of approximately 15.51%. In 2025, China’s corn production exceeded 300 million tons for the first time, setting a new historical record.
1.3. National Layout of the Corn Industry
In 2024, the corn production of the following 10 provinces – Heilongjiang, Jilin, Inner Mongolia, Shandong, Henan, Hebei, Liaoning, Xinjiang, Sichuan, and Yunnan – ranked respectively in the top 1 to 10 positions nationwide. The production volume of each province exceeded 100 million tons – totaling 24089.16 million tons (approximately 2.41 billion tons), accounting for 81.68% of the national corn output. Among them, Heilongjiang maintained the top position in terms of production volume, reaching 4584.94 million tons, accounting for 15.55% of the national total output.
2.1. Consumer Demand and Price Trends
From the perspective of consumption structure, in the 2024/2025 fiscal year, the total consumption of corn in China was approximately 297.86 million tons. Among this, the feed consumption accounted for the dominant position, amounting to about 193.50 million tons, accounting for approximately 64.96% of the total consumption. In the feed consumption, pig farming accounted for about 50%, and poultry feed consumption accounted for approximately 40%. Industrial consumption followed closely, with a consumption volume of about 83.40 million tons, accounting for approximately 28%. In recent years, with the continuous expansion of processing capacity, the industrial consumption of corn has become increasingly stable. The production capacity is mainly distributed in the corn-producing areas in Northeast and North China, with a combined total accounting for more than 80% of the total capacity. The seed consumption is relatively small, accounting for approximately 0.43%. Overall, the combined consumption of feed and industrial use accounted for more than 92%, which is the main driving force for corn consumption in China.
From the beginning of 2023 to the beginning of 2026, the domestic corn prices generally showed a fluctuating downward trend, dropping from 3.04 yuan per kilogram in January 2023 to 2.5 yuan per kilogram in March 2026, with a cumulative decline of approximately 17.76%. During the same period, the international corn prices also showed a downward trend, dropping from 2.82 yuan per kilogram to 2.24 yuan per kilogram, with an overall decline of approximately 20.57%. The international price fluctuations were more frequent, and both showed cyclical weakening in trend, but the domestic price level was generally higher than the international price in most periods.
2.2. Analysis of Import and Export Trade Patterns
According to data from China’s customs, in 2025, the import volume of corn-related products in China was 266.35 million tons, which was 213 million tons higher than the export volume (53.38 million tons); the import amount was 715 million US dollars, accounting for approximately 0.34% of the total national agricultural product import amount in 2025 (207.41 billion US dollars); the export amount was 404 million US dollars, accounting for approximately 0.39% of the total national agricultural product export amount in 2025 (104.16 billion US dollars); the trade deficit reached 3.11 billion US dollars.
From the perspective of trade commodities, in 2025, the main imported products of corn in China were “corn, excluding for planting purposes”, “frozen sweet corn”, “corn starch”, “sweet corn not processed or preserved by vinegar method”, “corn powder”, “corn for planting purposes”, etc., totaling 10 categories. The commodity with the largest import volume was “corn, excluding for planting purposes” – with an import volume of 2,646,290.81 tons (approximately 264.63 million kilograms) and an import value of 692,642,700 US dollars (approximately 693 million US dollars), accounting for 99.35% and 96.82% of the total import volume and import value of corn-related commodities in China throughout 2025, respectively.
The main exported products are “corn starch”, “sweet corn processed or preserved by non-acetic methods”, “frozen sweet corn”, “other corn oils and their derivatives”, “forage corn”, etc., totaling 10 categories. Among them, the product with the largest export volume is “corn starch” – the export volume in 2025 is 213,444.1 tons (approximately 21.34 million tons), and the export value is 81.9832 million US dollars (approximately 0.82 million US dollars), accounting for 39.99% and 20.29% of the total export volume and export value of corn-related products in China in 2025 respectively. The product with the largest export value is “sweet corn processed or preserved by non-acetic methods” – the export volume in 2025 is 172,079.29 tons (approximately 17.21 million tons), and the export value is 181.123 million US dollars (approximately 1.81 million US dollars), accounting for 32.24% and 44.82% of the total export volume and export value of corn-related products in China in 2025 respectively.
3. Analysis of Cost and Benefit of Planting
3.1. Total Cost per Acre
According to the “National Agricultural Product Cost and Revenue Data Compilation”, in 2024, the total cost per mu of corn in China was 1,316.7 yuan. Compared with 2023, which was 1,312.04 yuan, it increased by 4.66 yuan, representing an increase of approximately 0.36%. From a long-term perspective, the total cost per mu of corn in China from 2014 to 2024 showed a fluctuating upward trend. Over the 10-year period, it increased from 1,063.89 yuan to 1,316.7 yuan, with a cumulative increase of 23.76%.
3.2. Total Per-Mu Output Value
According to the data from the “National Agricultural Cost and Revenue Data Compilation”, from 2014 to 2024, the per-acre output value of corn in China showed a distinct fluctuating trend of “first decreasing, then increasing, and then sharply dropping again”. From 2014 to 2016, the per-acre output value dropped continuously from 1,145.71 yuan to 765.89 yuan, with a cumulative decrease of 33.15%. Then it entered a growth period lasting for seven years, and continued to rise from 2017 to 2023, reaching a historical peak of 1,466.43 yuan in 2023, with the most significant year-on-year increase in 2020, at 27.87%. However, in 2024, the per-acre output value plummeted to 1,093.94 yuan, with a significant year-on-year decrease of 25.40%, basically returning to the level of 2015 to 2019.
3.3. Per-Acre Profit
The net profit from corn production refers to the final net income obtained from corn planting activities after deducting all production costs such as seeds, fertilizers, labor, and machinery. It is the core indicator for measuring the economic benefits of corn production. According to the data from the “National Agricultural Product Cost and Revenue Compilation”, based on the per-acre net profit of corn in China from 2014 to 2024, the planting income shows the characteristics of “alternating profits and losses, with increasing fluctuations in recent years”: in 2014, there was a slight profit of 81.82 yuan, from 2015 to 2019, there was a consecutive five-year loss (the most severe loss in 2016 was 299.7 yuan), from 2020 to 2023, there was a consecutive four-year profit, and in 2022, it reached a peak of 163.25 yuan, but in 2024, it deteriorated sharply to -222.76 yuan, returning to a deep loss range. Considering the output value data, although the output value decreased by 25.4% in 2024, the net profit plummeted from a profit of 154.39 yuan to a loss of 222.76 yuan, indicating that the cost pressure has significantly increased or the price decline has far exceeded expectations.
Post time: May-19-2026
