Today (Mar. 19th), the market for meals in China is shown as follows:
Soybean meal: Meal futures inch lower on the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) today on the back of US soybean loss overnight. Soybean meal spots steadily go ups and downs by 10-20 yuan/tonne in lighter trading. Specifically, the price settles at 2,540-2,600 yuan/tonne. (Tianjin 2,560, Shandong 2,540-2,560, Jiangsu 2,540-2,590, Dongguan 2,520-2,600, and Guangxi 2,530-2,570). Low hog replenishment subject to the ASF has been a hindrance for soybean meal, which is fortunately offset by growing demand from feed plants due to its small price spread with alternative meals. Therefore, soybean meal has enjoyed a strong trading volume since March, coupled by declining weekly crush volume of 1.50 Mln tonnes in recent two weeks, so it has almost eased inventory pressure and even run short in some Northern and Shandong regions, creating a scene of shipment overdue. Therefore, short-term soybean meal is resilient at the moment, but the middle-to-long term trend still remains vague. Buyers with enough stockpiles can just wait on the sidelines.
Imported rapeseed meal: Imported rapeseed meal goes up today, of which it settles up 10-20 yuan/tonne at 2,170-2,220 yuan/tonne. (Guangxi 2,170, up 10; Guangdong 2,170, up 10; and Fujian 2,220, up 10). US soybean dropped for another session overnight for no update from US-China trade talks, but rapeseed meal futures post continued gains on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange today amid growing worries on relations between China and Canada since the meeting between Chinese and US Presidents could be postponed to July instead of April and there are only two rapeseed cargoes left for April and May after blocked unloading of rapeseed and crude rapeseed oil at ports. However, meal demand has suffered a lot from the ASF, and rapeseed meal has been reduced or supplanted in aquatic feed and totally been replaced by sunflower meal in poultry feedstuff. Besides, meal futures have slipped on the DCE today. Overall, there will be little room for rapeseed meal to rebound, so buyers can just wait on the sidelines.
Imported fishmeal: Today, imported fishmeal stays table in price and can be traded with price negotiations, with normal shipment at port. Quotation at ports: it remains at 9,600-9,800 yuan/tonne for Peruvian ordinary SD with 65% protein content, 10,400-10,600 yuan/tonne for Japanese SD with 67% protein content and 10,700-10,800 yuan/tonne for super steam fishmeal with 68% protein content. Stocks at port: Huangpu 73,000 tonnes, Fuzhou 34,000 tonnes, Shanghai 60,000 tonnes, Tianjin 1,000 tonnes, Dalian 13,000 tonnes, Fangchenggang 1,000 tonnes and 4,000 tonnes at other ports. Spot quotations (FOB) in foreign market keeps steady: the quotation is unchanged at 1,230 USD/tonne for Peruvian ordinary SD fishmeal with 65% protein content and at 1,530 USD/tonne for super SD fishmeal with 68% protein content. Chilean ordinary fishmeal with 65% protein content is quoted steadily at 1,410 USD/tonne, and prime with 68% protein content at 1,550 USD/tonne. Domestic fishmeal market is now bolstered by firm quotation abroad and price inversion at home, but its demand remains delicate amid low prices of freshwater fish and reduced pig amount under the rampant ASF. Moreover, holders have become more willing to sell in view of supply gluts under growing stockpiles with new arrivals from Peru. Overall, fishmeal market will be little changed in the near term.
Cottonseed meal: Cottonseed meal prices today are stable with a decline of 20-50 yuan/tonne. The meals demand is poor as the number of live hogs in breeding has fallen dramatically with the spread of African swine fever. As the price spread between soybean meal and cottonseed meal is narrowed, the substitution of soybean meal from cottonseed meal increases in feed factory. Moreover, today meals on DCE decline slightly and soybean meal spots are stable with fluctuations of 10-20 yuan/tonne, which drags cottonseed meal down. Nevertheless, the price decline is curbed by the low operation rates in cottonseed oil mills. Short-term prices are likely to fluctuate weakly and buyers are suggested to take a hand-to-mouth buying strategy.
(USD $1=CNY 6.72)
