Today (Mar. 6th), the market for grains in China is shown as follows:
Corn: Domestic corn prices remain stable to consolidate today. The price prevails at 1,900-1,940 yuan/tonne in Shandong. At Jinzhou port, Liaoning, 2018 new corn with 15% moisture of volume weight over 700 g/L is priced lower by 5-10 yuan at 1,740-1,745 yuan/tonne, and 20% moisture remains unchanged at 1,640 yuan/tonne. At Bayuquan port, 2018 new corn goes down by 15-20 yuan to 1,735-1,740 yuan/tonne (volume weight 690-700 g/L). At Shekou port, Guangdong, second-class new corn is unchanged at 1,880 yuan/tonne.
As it is uneasy to store naturally-dried corn with the return of warmer weather, Northeastern planters may spark another round of intensive selling with adequate surplus in hand. But further processing enterprises lean toward a cautious approach, and corn feed demand remains low when hog farmers are unwilling to replenish amid the rampant ASF; thus, corn price is curbed. However, Heilongjiang Province has disclosed its first batch of corn purchase for provincial reserves, and has been said to multiply it by 3 Mln tonnes and another 3 Mln tonnes later. This has been a boost to market sentiment. Planters will get a subsidy of 300/mu (1 mu=0.067 ha) for soybean and about 100 yuan/mu for corn planting in Heilongjiang in 2019, and corn planting areas will be cut down due to soybean recovery plan, so corn price may get some support. In the near term, sales pressure will keep lingering as additional purchase for reserves has yet been confirmed and a current purchase of 300,000 tonnes can only provide limited upward impetus. Overall, corn price is predicted to go weak for its adequate supply.
Sorghum: Imported sorghum prices keep steady today. (US sorghum: raw sorghum is 2,120 yuan/tonne in Shanghai, 2,120 in Nantong, and not offered for out of stock in Zhangjiagang and Guangdong. Australian sorghum: raw sorghum remains unchanged at 2,160 yuan/tonne in Tianjin, 2,180 in Shanghai, 2,180-2,200 in Qingdao and 2,220 in Nantong; dried sorghum levels off at 2,140 yuan/tonne in Tianjin and 2,320 in Qingdao. Domestic sorghum prices step down today: In Inner Mongolia, raw sorghum remains unchanged at 1,920 and dried sorghum goes down by 40 yuan to 2,000 yuan/tonne Hinggan League; raw sorghum is priced lower by 40 yuan at 1,960 and dried sorghum goes down by 40 yuan to 2,080 yuan/tonne in Chifeng; and raw sorghum is priced steadily at 1,960 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 unchanged at 1,900 yuan/tonne and dried sorghum sacks at 1,980 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 lower by 20 yuan at 2,190 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 2,220-2,230 yuan/tonne in Qingdao and 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. Therefore, 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. And according to Cofeed, pig number has dropped further by 8.5% in February and sow amount by 15% amid the rampant ASF. Besides, sorghum market may be shocked by growing gain imports in the future since there is a growing expectation for a trade thaw between China and the United States. Generally, port sorghum and barley markets are predicted to keep steady with some fluctuations in the short term.
(USD $1=CNY 6.71)
