China's imports of so-called dried distillers' grains will continue to grow on rising animal-feed production, said FoodChina.com, an Internet-based agricultural exchange.

This year's inbound shipments of DDGS, a byproduct of corn-based ethanol, will likely exceed last year's total of 1.69 million tons, Fan Wenmin, general manager at the exchange, said at a conference in Shanghai . The rise in inbound shipments comes after the government withdrew an anti-dumping investigation against imports from the US, the biggest supplier, according to Fan.

China's corn output can't keep up with demand, spurring "rapid growth" of imports, Fan said. Demand for DDGS is "robust" and has the potential to grow to more than 15 million tons a year if it comprises 10 percent of the annual additional feed ingredients, he said.