Chinese Company Plans Massive Investment in Corn Processing Industry in Serbia

"Today" reported on January 26 that a Chinese company is planning to invest 250 million euros in Serbia's corn processing industry.

According to Serbian Agriculture Minister Nedimovic, negotiations are underway and Chinese investors plan to process 500,000 tons of corn a year to produce amino acids, starch and glucose. The corn production in Serbia varies from year to year depending on the amount of precipitation, ranging from 6.2 to 7 million tons, which would be a non-negligible amount. Meanwhile, Serbia exports 3-3.5 million tons of corn annually.

A year ago, China pledged to partners in 17 Southeast European countries, including Serbia, to import $170 billion worth of agricultural products from the region over the next five years. Serbia, the world's 17th largest corn producer, has so far only exported the primary agricultural product as a raw material, without trying to develop its own processing capacity. Goran Bekavac, head of the corn department at the Institute of Farmland and Vegetable Crops in Novi Sad, said that as a country and an economy, exporting only grains as a raw material is the least profitable. Sai should make better use of corn resources, process and then export, such as products used in the meat industry, amino acids, starch, dyes, etc., so as to have a place in the world market.