Today (Sept. 24), the market for meals in China is shown as follows:
Soybean meal: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said China’s trade delegation had not canceled the farm tour, but just delayed it at the request of US side, and they would reschedule it at a different time. Chinese importers on Monday bought 10 cargoes, or about 600,000 tonnes, of soybeans for shipment from October to December. On fresh export deals, US soybeans closed with gains on Monday, but meal futures drop further after lower opens on the Dalian Commodity Exchange today. Spot soybean meal prices steadily fall by 10-20 yuan/tonne in weaker trading. Specifically, the price settles at 2,880-2,990 yuan/tonne in coastal regions (Tianjin 2,990, Shandong 2,980-3,000, Jiangsu 2,900-2,930, Dongguan 2,880-2,900, and Guangxi 2,910-2,920). China’s Ministry of Agriculture yesterday reported a case of African swine fever in Cenxi, Guangxi. Domestic hog herd is small under the spread of the disease. Besides, there is a sign of a detente in trade spats, and US soybeans will soon be harvested and go marketing. These are all weighing down soybean meal prices. But most mills have made plans for downtime during the National Day holiday and the parade, especially in Rizhao, Shandong, where some mills have curtailed production for heavy pollution. Overall, short-term soybean meal prices will follow futures to remain range-bound, and buyers are suggested to buy dips to keep appropriate stockpiles and remain cautious in driving up prices.
Imported rapeseed meal: Imported rapeseed meal declines slightly in price today, of which it settles down 10 yuan/tonne at 2,290-2,380 yuan/tonne in coastal areas (Guangxi 2,320, stable; Guangdong 2,380, down 10; Fujian 2,320, stable). The mix of rapeseed meal is still low, and the overall demand for meal products is delicate due to the lingering swine fever, so there is not much improvement in terminal demand. Besides, soybean meal prices are curbed due to a detente in Sino-US trade relations. But some oil mills plan to halt the operation with the approach of National Day holiday. In addition, rapeseed supply gets tightened amid the pending issues between China and Canada, which will cause the rapeseed crush to keep falling back in coastal areas in the next two weeks. Therefore, rapeseed meal inventory may drop continuously and mills tend to prop up prices, which limits the declines. Hence, short-term rapeseed meal market may fluctuate at a narrow range. Buyers can stay on the sideline or buy on immediate demand.
Imported fishmeal: Imported fishmeal is quoted lower today with some negotiating space. Quotation at ports: it is priced quoted lower by 100 yuan at 9,000-9,200 yuan/tonne for Peruvian Standard SD with 65% protein content, lower by 100 yuan at 9,300-9,400 yuan/tonne for Thai SD with 67% protein content, lower by 100-200 yuan at 9,600-10,000 yuan/tonne for Japanese SD with 67% protein content, and lower by 100-200 yuan at 9,900-10,200 yuan/tonne for super SD with 68% protein content and lower by 200 yuan at 9,500-10,000 for old products. Stocks at port: Huangpu 134,000 tonnes, Fuzhou 37,000 tonnes, Shanghai 84,000 tonnes, Tianjin 1,000 tonnes, Dalian 14,000 tonnes, Fangchenggang 1,000 tonnes and 4,000 tonnes at other ports. FOB prices are stable from foreign merchants today: it is 1,090 USD/tonne for Peruvian Standard SD with 65% protein content and 1,290 USD/tonne for super SD with 68% protein content. Chilean Standard SD with 65% protein content is 1,100 USD/tonne, and super SD with 68% protein content at 1,300 USD/tonne.The demand for fishmeal from domestic aquaculture remains low, so does from the hog feed, for the African swine fever is ravaging the hog herd. Concerned about slow consumption in farming, feed mills make no bulk purchases. With high stockpiles at ports, holders are under sales pressure. The overall domestic fishmeal market is thus restricted and predicted to stay stable to go relatively weak in the short term.
Cottonseed meal: Today cottonseed meal stays stable due to the operation halts in Shandong oil mills for the National Day and military parade, and insufficient goods supply. However, the market is weighted on when the demand is affected by the devastating outbreak of African swine fever; cottonseed meal is dropping away from cottonseed meal; Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said China’s trade delegation didn't cancel a scheduled farm tour in the U.S., but actually delayed that at U.S. request, and was going to reschedule that at a different time; China again purchased 10 cargoes, 600,000 tonnes of US soybean for Oct.-Dec. shipment on Monday; today meals on DCE decline with low opening and spot soybean meal is stable with a drop of 10-20 yuan/tonne. Cottonseed meal is likely to stay stable with some fluctuations before National Day, and move with weak trend after that, owing to the rising of operation rates. Buyers can just wait on the sidelines.
(USD $1=CNY 7.07)