Today (Jan. 17), the market for meals in China is shown as follows:

Soybean meal: US soybean futures closed lower last night, as the market remained skeptical about whether China would meet its commitment to boost purchases of U.S. soybeans in the face of bumper crop and favorable prices in South America. Meal futures fall on the Dalian Commodity Exchange today. Soybean meal spots steadily decline by 10-20yuan/tonne with light trading. Specifically, the price settles at 2610-2770 yuan/tonne today. (Tianjin 2770, Shandong 2685-2690, Jiangsu 2640-2680, Dongguan 2600-2640, and Guangxi 2640-2650.) China may boost its imports of soybeans, pork and poultry meat from the U.S. after signing the trade deal. And the market of DDGS, one alternative meal of soybean meal, may also get opened again. On the demand front in China at present, aquaculture has been slack in winter, and hog stocks will not recover until the second quarter this year; hence, soybean meal will have lower demand after the festival and feed enterprises do not make bulk purchases now for a lack of confidence in the market. Moreover, soybean crush remains high in these weeks as DCE gross crush margins for Brazilian soybeans now stay at 253-323 yuan/tonne, and soybean meal stocks thus follow to increase. Oil prices also slow down its declines today. In the absence of higher demand, soybean meal market will not get improved very much and may keep range-bound. Buyers can wait at the moment.

Imported rapeseed meal: Imported rapeseed meal declines slightly in price today, of which it partly settles down 10 yuan/tonne at 2,160-2,180 yuan/tonne in coastal areas (Guangxi 2,180; Guangdong 2,160; Fujian 2,180). The soybean crush stays at an extremely high level owing to the huge imports at ports and good crush margin. Besides, since China and U.S. have formally signed phase one trade deal, the imports for DDGS which is alternative for meals may be resumed. But soybean meal inventory rallies again amid an off season of demand from aquaculture. Therefore, rapeseed meal prices are depressed by these factors. However, it is unlikely to ease tensions between China and Canada in the near term, so the supply of rapeseed meal still gets tight. As a result, oil mills reduce the operating rate, which leads rapeseed meal stocks in coastal areas to decrease. And price declines of rapeseed meal are limited. Buyers can wait for low and stable prices to make replenishment in small batch.

Imported fishmeal: Imported fishmeal prices steady today with some negotiation space. Peruvian Standard SD with 65% protein content is 11,800-12,000 yuan/tonne; Peruvian higher-quality SD with 65% protein content is 12,100-12,300 yuan/tonne; Peruvian higher-quality SD with 67% protein content is 12,600-12,800 yuan/tonne; and Peruvian Super Prime SD with 68% protein content is 13,000-13,100 yuan/tonne. As logistics companies are closed for the Spring Festival, fishmeal market at port can hardly have bulk purchases. The market is quiet now in spite of high prices. But Peruvian Ministry of Production announced that it concluded the second fishing season in the north-central zone. And fish catches are estimated at 984,710 tonnes, or 35.3% of the total quota. With support of this, the market is predicted to go upward after the festival. Stocks at port: Huangpu 63,000 tonnes, Fuzhou 31,000 tonnes, Shanghai 32,000 tonnes, Tianjin 1,000 tonnes, Dalian 3,000 tonnes, Fangchenggang 1,000 tonnes and 4,000 tonnes at other ports. FOB prices from foreign merchants today: it is all quoted steadily at 1,480 USD/tonne for Peruvian Standard with 65% protein content and 1,780 USD/tonne for Peruvian super with 68% protein content. Chilean Standard with 65% protein content is unchanged at 1,300 USD/tonne, and super with 68% protein content at 1,610 USD/tonne.

Cottonseed meal: Cottonseed meal price stays stable with individual declines of 20 yuan/tonne today. Cottonseed price is high, and operation rate goes down with the upcoming Spring Festival. Thus, cottonseed meal market is bolstered. But it is also dragged down by inversion of price spread between soybean meal and cottonseed meal, halt of logistics. Moreover, meals on DCE fall back today, and spot soybean meal steadily declines by 10-20 yuan/tonne. Besides, there are many oil mills that have already stopped the operation, so cottonseed meal market is likely to fluctuate a little and mainly keep steady before Spring Festival.