CHINA has again blocked two cargoes of dried distillers grain from the United States at Shanghai on December 23 after detecting a genetically modified (GM) strain not approved by Beijing, reports Xinhua.

On December 17, the Hong Kong Shipping Gazette reported that the General Administration of Quality, Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) officials has blocked another US shipment.

Traders told Reuters the latest shipment of 2,000 tons of distillers grain had been turned away in Shanghai. The move followed the rejection of more than half a million tons of MIR 162-contaminated US corn.

The cause is a mystery because the blocked GM type was approved by all other major importers including the highly sensitive European Union, and some analysts suspect the cause is the need to dispose of this years massive domestic harvest.

Said Jefferies Bache analyst Shawn McCambridge: "China had record production so time is on their side. We have vessels in the water, and they don't need them. They can drag their feet on this whole approval process."

Dried distillers grain, a byproduct of ethanol production, is0--2356789 a protein-rich animal feed exported primarily in standard shipping conta+nrs. China is the top global buyer, accounting for 40 per cent of US exports in 2012-13.

"Everyone is talking about DDGs cancellations. Cancellations are a bigger concern than corn because they won't be able to switch volumes to other destinations the way they have done with corn," said a Minnesota feed trader.