CHINA imported one of the highest tonnages of barley in years in March, while sorghum arrivals fell by 21 percent, customs data showed yesterday, in a sign that the Sino-U.S. trade tensions are roiling grain flows.

China imported 860,000 tons of barley in March, up 22 percent on a year ago and the third highest monthly level since at least the start of 2016.

Demand for barley, used in both animal feed and brewing, has risen since China said in early February it would investigate alleged dumping of sorghum by the United States.

Sorghum imports for the month fell 21 percent year on year to 570,000 tons, the data showed, but were still up slightly from February’s 555,713 tons.

Both barley and sorghum are used as substitutes for corn in feeding livestock in China, the world’s biggest pork producer.

“People switched to barley in a concentrated way after the probe into sorghum was launched,” a trader said.

“Sorghum imports were low also because prices of U.S. sorghum were not really competitive and the government here was trying to reduce huge stocks of corn,” the trader said.

A second trader said the rise in barley imports was also due to lower global sorghum output, which had driven buyers to seek more of the alternative grain.

Sugar imports also jumped to 380,000 tons, their highest level since January 2017, the data showed, and a 26-percent increase on the same month of last year.(SD-Agencies)