China corn futures fall 1.5% in early Wednesday trade

BEIJING, March 31 (Reuters) -

* China's most-active corn futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange fell more than 1.5% in early trade on Wednesday to 2,610 yuan ($397.40) a tonne, before later recovering

* The decline this week comes as farmers sell off stocks ahead of planting a new crop and as processing and feed companies sit on ample supply, said Meng Jinhui, analyst at Shengda Futures

* On Monday, the contract posted its biggest drop in seven months

* Meng said growing volumes of imported corn and substitutes are arriving at ports as well, while feed mills are increasingly switching to wheat and rice as alternatives

* "The market is more and more aware that the so-called gap has miraculously disappeared," he said, referring to worries of a large corn deficit widely discussed in the latter half of last year

($1 = 6.5680 yuan) (Reporting by Dominique Patton; Editing by Tom Hogue)