CHINA auctioned 1.79 million tons of corn from its government stockpile Friday, according to a statement posted on a national trade center website.

    The total volume of corn auctioned was about 60 percent of what had been planned, according to the statement posted late Friday by the National Grain Trade Center.

    The center said 1.75 million tons of domestically produced corn was sold at an average price of 1,573 yuan (US$239.70) per ton. It also sold 34,745 tons of imported corn at an average price of 1,559 yuan per ton, it said.

    The auction is the second since the government announced in March that it would halt its corn stockpiling scheme for the 2016/17 year and begin selling down State grain reserves.

    (SD-Agencies)