China's Commerce Ministry said on Wednesday that it will extend an anti-dumping probe on imports of U.S. distillers' dried grains (DDGs) until June 28 next year before making a final ruling.

The ministry said the reason for the extension was because the case was "special and complicated". It launched the investigation a year ago, threatening trade that has grown massively in 2009 and 2010, when China became the world's largest importer.

Since the probe, total DDG imports in the first 11 months of this year fell 48 percent from a year earlier to 1.5 million tonnes. Imports in 2010, all from the United States, had jumped 385 percent to 3.16 million tonnes, worth more than $753 million.

DDGs, a by-product of corn-based ethanol production, have found a ready market in China, where growing demand for meat has fuelled a boom in animal feed production that is using up increasing volumes of corn and soymeal as well as DDGs, which is used as a substitute for corn by feed mills here.

Four Chinese ethanol producers, including COFCO Biochemical Anhui Co Ltd and Jilin Fuel Alcohol Co Ltd, requested the investigation by the ministry even though domestic production is only about 3.5 million tonnes, and cannot meet feed mill demand.

Feed mills were opposed to the probe, which has pushed up prices of the feed ingredient and for meat.

The Commerce Ministry last week urged the United States to lift anti-subsidy duties on Chinese-made tires.

Source: reuters.com