Today (Feb. 20th), the market for grains in China is shown as follows:
Corn: Domestic corn prices stay stable with slight declines today. The price prevails at 1,900-1,994 yuan/tonne in Shandong, some rebounding by 16-20 yuan/tonne. At Jinzhou port, Liaoning, 2018 new corn with 15% moisture of volume weight over 700 g/L is priced lower by 10 yuan at 1,780-1,790 yuan/tonne, and 20% moisture goes down by 20 yuan to 1,670 yuan/tonne. At Bayuquan port, 2018 new corn is priced steadily at 1,780 yuan/tonne (volume weight 690-700 g/L). At Shekou port, Guangdong, second-class new corn is unchanged at 1,930-1,940 yuan/tonne.
Sinograin is said to multiply its reserves properly and provincial reserve of Heilongjiang has open its silos for corn purchases, which have brought supports to corn market. In addition, planters tend to hoard to support prices, coupled by another round of rain and snow in some regions. Corn has managed to slow down its price declines in the past few days, and some companies have even offered higher by 10-20 yuan/tonne in Shandong today. But once planters find it uneasy to store their corn amid rising temperatures, there will be risks of intensive sales. Currently, downstream buyers still remain cautious, and feed companies have posted sluggish demand for replenishment for dismal consumption in pig feeding, especially after another two cases of African swine fever were uncovered in Guangxi and Shandong. According to Bloomberg news today, President Donald Trump said that talks with China are going very well and include a variety of suggestions including selling corn to China at an amount larger than any one thought possible. And this is bearish to domestic corn market. So corn market may go weak in the near term. No.1 central document last night noted that China will continue to propel the reform of agricultural supply and perfect the structure of agricultural plantings. Among them, it will implement its turnaround plan for soybean, actively expand imports for agricultural products short of domestically, and diversify channels for imports.
Sorghum: Imported sorghum prices keep steady today. (US sorghum: raw sorghum is unchanged at 2,120 yuan/tonne in Shanghai and not offered for out of stocks in Nantong, Zhangjiagang and Guangdong. Australian sorghum: raw sorghum remains unchanged at 2,200 yuan/tonne in Tianjin, 2,180 in Shanghai and 2,180-2,200 in Qingdao; dried sorghum levels off at 2,310 yuan/tonne in Tianjin and 2,320 in Qingdao. Domestic sorghum is priced steadily today: In Inner Mongolia, raw sorghum and dried sorghum remain unchanged at 1,920 and 2,040 yuan/tonne Hinggan League, 2,000 and 2,100-2,140 yuan/tonne in Chifeng; and raw sorghum with freight is priced steadily at 1,940 yuan/tonne in Tongliao. In Jilin Province, dried sorghum with freight is unchanged at 2,240 yuan/tonne in Changchun, raw sorghum sacks and dried sorghum with freight are both at 2,000 yuan/tonne in Songyuan, bulk dried sorghum with freight is 2,120 yuan/tonne in Baicheng, and raw sorghum is 1,920-1,940 yuan/tonne and dried sorghum sacks 2,040 yuan/tonne in Taonan. In Heilongjiang Province, raw sorghum and dried sorghum with freight are priced steadily at 1,880 yuan/tonne and 1,960 yuan/tonne in Daqing, and dried sorghum with freight is unchanged at 2,000 yuan/tonne in Heihe. In Shanxi Province, raw sorghum is unchanged at 2,100 yuan/tonne in Yuncheng, bulk dried sorghum with freight is priced steadily at 2,210 yuan/tonne in Jinzhong, and raw sorghum with freight and dried sorghum with freight remain unchanged at 1,960 and 2,160 yuan/tonne in Xinzhou.
Barley: Barley price holds steady today. (Australian barley: raw sorghum is not offered in Qingdao and remains unchanged at 2,360-2,380 in Tianjin, and bulk raw sorghum is unchanged at 2,210-2,220 in Nantong; Canadian barley: raw barley is unchanged at 2,120 yuan/tonne in Nantong; French barley: raw barley is unchanged at 2,080-2,090 yuan/tonne in Nantong; Ukrainian barley: not offered in Guangdong).
Grain market is now firmly supported by strained supply of port US sorghum and high cost of Australian sorghum. And port barley has held low inventories when import cost for Australian Barley stays stubbornly high. Therefor, importers with storage in hand tend to prop up prices. But port sorghum and barley have lost their price advantage against corn as its energy feed substitute. Moreover, hog farmers are still worried about the African swine fever, for which their have sold their pigs amid frequent outbreaks and during the festival and have also cut their piglet replenishment. In this case, feed enterprises are cautious in purchasing for sales declines. Spots markets of port sorghum and barley are thus curbed. Grain market has been light and port grain price remains stable today in the coexistence of the bull and the bear. Generally, port sorghum and barley markets are predicted to keep steady with some fluctuations in the short term.
(USD $1=CNY 6.72)
