News: NAM Louis Dreyfus upbeat on Chinese agri-food demand, CEO says

PARIS, March 21 (Reuters) - Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) remains positive about Chinese demand as a source of growth for agricultural markets, despite rebalancing in other parts of China's economy, the CEO of the global commodity merchant told Reuters on Thursday.

China is the world's biggest buyer of farm goods but slowing economic growth and a real-estate crisis have raised doubts about its commodity demand.

"China has a level of rebalancing going on at this point, predominantly in other sectors. But as related to the agricultural sector, we're still quite confident and bullish China," Michael Gelchie said in an interview after LDC's annual results.

Cereal and oilseed imports by China will remain near record highs this year, encouraged by lower global prices and a domestic crop shortfall, according to traders and analysts.

China has been a focus of investments for LDC as it looks to combine bulk handling of staple crops with a greater presence in food manufacturing.