Today (Apr. 17th), the market for grains in China is shown as follows:
Corn: Domestic corn prices continue its partial rises today. The price prevails at 1,862-1,950 yuan/tonne in Shandong, up by 6-10 yuan/tonne from yesterday. At Jinzhou port, Liaoning, 2018 new corn with 15% moisture of volume weight over 700 g/L is priced steadily at 1,770-1,780 yuan/tonne. At Bayuquan port, 2018 new corn is unchanged at 1,775-1,780 yuan/tonne (volume weight 700 g/L). At Shekou port, Guangdong, second-class new corn remains unchanged at yuan at 1,880 yuan/tonne.
Surplus corn stockpiles keep reducing and mostly have been sold out in domestic main production areas. Moreover, the market is expecting a postponed auction schedule and raised minimum price, so that traders tend to hoard their high-cost corn. In this case, corn supply has swerved to a dip. The price goes up by 6-10 yuan/tonne in Shandong today due to falling volume arriving at Northern ports and processing enterprises. However, Northeastern processing producers still hold adequate stockpiles, and corn-based consumption is weak due to a dim outlook for hog breeding as the market is hit hard by the African swine fever. Add to that, corn inventories have stayed at historical high levels both at northern and southern ports amid slow shipments. This will be a curb on price rises, and participants can keep watching state policies and changes in demand and supply.
Sorghum:
Imported sorghum prices hold 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 is prices steadily at 2,140 yuan/tonne in Tianjin, 2,180 in Shanghai, 2,160 in Qingdao and 2,260 in Nantong; dried sorghum is unchanged at 2,250 yuan/tonne in Tianjin and 2,300 in Qingdao.
Domestic sorghum prices stay stable today: In Inner Mongolia, raw sorghum and dried sorghum remain unchanged at 1,920 and 2,000 yuan/tonne in Hinggan League; raw sorghum and dried sorghum are priced steadily at 1,940 and 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 priced steadily at 2,160 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, dried sorghum with freight is unchanged at 1,840 yuan/tonne in Qiqihar; 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 1,900 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 2,150 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 prices remain stable today. (Australian barley: raw sorghum remains unchanged at 2,220 yuan/tonne in Qingdao and and bulk raw sorghum is unchanged at 2,200 in Nantong; Canadian barley: raw barley is priced steadily at 2,120 yuan/tonne in Nantong and 2,120 yuan/tonne in Qingdao; French barley: raw barley is not offered in Nantong; Ukrainian barley: not offered in Guangdong).
Sorghum price is now dragged down by weak demand due to continued drops in corn prices. And importers with storage in hand tend to prop up prices in view of low barley inventories at ports and stubbornly high cost of Australian barley. Merely, port sorghum and barley have lost their price advantage against corn as its energy feed substitutes. And data from China’s Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Affairs confirmed 114 outbreaks (111 for hog and 3 for wild boar) of the ASF, with more than 916,000 pigs culled in total. This epidemic has roiled the original trend of hog cycle in China, as middle and small farmers withdrew from the market and geared up the elimination of breeding sow stocks since the first outbreak last August, and it has been fiercely cutting the pig number in those provinces reported with more outbreaks. Thus, it will be hard for farmers to rebuild confidence in short time as a fall in live pig and sow stocks has stricken a serious blow at the sector. Given this, grain market will be curbed by its later consumption. In addition, China has bought 65,000 tonnes of US sorghum, the first purchase since August last year. And amid trade talks between Beijing and Washington, participants can keep a close watch on whether China will open its market for US agricultural products. Generally, port sorghum and barley markets are predicted to keep steady with some fluctuations in the short term.
(USD $1=CNY 6.71)
