Today (Sept. 9th), the market for meals in China is shown as follows:

Soybean meal: U.S. soybean closed lower last Friday night as weather forecasts were yet to show frost risks in the Midwest, and meal futures extend losses on the Dalian Commodity Exchange today. Spot bids for soybean meal drop by 10-40 yuan/tonne from last Friday in tepid trading. Specifically, the price settles at 2,900-3,000 yuan/tonne in coastal areas. (Tianjin 3,000, Shandong 2,950-3,000, Jiangsu 2,930-2,960, Dongguan 2,900-2,910, and Guangxi 2,940-2,970). China and the United States confirmed to hold another round of negotiations in Washington in earlier October and would embark on consultations from mid-September, which has signaled a detente in bilateral trade relationship. Meanwhile, breeding hog amount has posted a month-on-month decline of around 15% by the end of August due to the lingering African swine fever, according to Cofeed. And the demand from aquaculture in South China is lower than expected, so that local mills are urging buyers to hurry delivery. Soybean meal prices are subdued by swelling inventories. However, soybean import cost stays stubbornly high due to rising premiums of Brazilian soybeans. And the number of poultry has increased thanks to improved breeding margins of egg-layers and broilers, which has partly offset some bearish impact caused by decreasing hog amount. Therefore, prices are likely to see slower declines in coming days after losses in the past few days and even likely to post technical rebounds. But the overall soybean meal market is predicted to fluctuate and stay relatively weak due to such fundamentals as forthcoming trade talks and U.S. soybean sales. Buyers can wait for low and stable prices to make replenishment in small batch and had better keep light stockpiles. 

Imported rapeseed meal: Imported rapeseed meal declines in price today, of which it settles down 20-30 yuan/tonne at 2,300-2,420 yuan/tonne in coastal areas (Guangxi not offered, Guangdong 2,420, Fujian 2,300, down 30). On one hand, feed mills have cut the mix of rapeseed meal to the lowest, and the overall demand for meal products stays delicate under the lingering African swine fever, so that coastal rapeseed meal inventory has increased by 17% to 49,000 tonnes last week. Besides, soybean crush still stays at a super high level in recent weeks. On the other hand, China last week bought 3 cargoes of Australian rapeseed which will go marketing in October, and private enterprises also continue to buy Canadian rapeseed. As the supply of rapeseed may be better than expected, buyers remain cautious when purchasing rapeseed meal. However, rapeseed meal prices are supported to limit declines due to the high cost of imported soybean and unsolved issues between China and Canada. Hence, short-term rapeseed meal market may fluctuate at a narrow range. Buyers can wait for low and stable prices to make replenishment in small batch.

Imported fishmeal: Imported fishmeal price stays stable today with some negotiating space. Quotation at ports: it is priced steadily at 9,300-9,600 yuan/tonne for Peruvian Standard SD with 65% protein content, 9,400-9,800 yuan/tonne for Thai SD with 67% protein content, 9,800-10,200 yuan/tonne for Japanese SD with 67% protein content, and 10,200-10,500 yuan/tonne for super SD with 68% protein content and 9,800-10,300 for old products. Stocks at port: Huangpu 143,000 tonnes, Fuzhou 36,000 tonnes, Shanghai 89,000 tonnes, Tianjin 1,000 tonnes, Dalian 16,000 tonnes, Fangchenggang 1,000 tonnes and 4,000 tonnes at other ports. The prices stay stable with some declines in foreign markets today: it is down by 60 USD at 1,160 USD/tonne for Peruvian Standard SD with 65% protein content and unchanged at 1,330 USD/tonne for super SD with 68% protein content. Chilean Standard SD with 65% protein content is 1,300 USD/tonne, and super SD with 68% protein content at 1,520 USD/tonne. The demand growth is slow from domestic aquaculture, and hog feed also has low demand for fishmeal due to a smaller hog herd under the impact of the ASF. And with continues arrivals of new Peruvian fishmeal, domestic market is in a glut with growing inventory. Domestic fishmeal market is thus restricted. Overall, short-term trend is predicted to be weak. 

Cottonseed meal: Today cottonseed meal stays stable due to the low operation rate and almost non-inventory. However, the demand is affected by the devastating outbreak of African swine fever with the number of live hogs in end-August declining by about 15% month on month. Moreover, soybean meal is dropping away from cottonseed meal. Today meals on DCE further fall back, and spot soybean meal drops 10-40 yuan/tonne. Cottonseed meal is likely to fluctuate in narrow range before the massive marketing of cottonseed, and then have a risk of falling. Buyers should be prudent if chasing high.