Today (Mar. 23), the market for meals in China is shown as follows:

Soybean meal: US soybean and its products surged last Friday, especially with a sharp rise in soymeal futures. This could be contributed to following reasons. Port workers in Argentina will continue the strike till this Wednesday, and though mills are operating normally, soybean shipments to mills and ports have been disrupted. Meanwhile, workers at Santos port, Brazil, will also vote this Monday on whether to hold a strike, and vehicles from inland to ports in this country have already decreased by 35%. These have stoked uncertainty in soybean and soymeal exports in South American countries. US exporters said last Thursday that they had sold soybeans to China, which could be an explanation that Chinese buyers were back to US markets with concerns over soybean supply in South America amid the coronavirus. For another, US soybean meal consumption will increase due to a decline in DDGS production, as ethanol plants have slashed operation rates after suffering losses in the wake of a steep fall in crude price. The above factors bolstered US soybean meal futures to jump sharply higher. Meal futures are shored up to hit the limit-up level on the Dalian Commodity Exchange today. Soybean meal spot prices follow to increase by 100-160 yuan/tonne, with some purchases on low-level basis and tepid trade for spot contracts. Specifically, the price settles at 3050-3200 yuan/tonne today. (Tianjin 3200, Shandong 3150-3170, Jiangsu 3100-3110, Dongguan 3040-3060, and Guangxi 3060-3100.) Due to slow shipment at ports in Brazil, soybean imports may only be 6.80 mln tonnes in April, some 500,000 tonnes below a previous estimate. Soybean crush fell to a four-year low of 1.38 mln tonnes last week for a lack of soybean, and soybean meal stocks continued to decline by 26% to a low level of 320,000 tonnes. Some mills are stalling sales for tight supplies, which helps bolster soybean meal prices. The tight supply, rather than the demand under the coronavirus, is now the major factor in the market, so short-term soybean meal prices will probably keep its upward trend in the short term. 

Imported rapeseed meal: Imported rapeseed meal prices rise sharply today, of which it settles up 90-120 yuan/tonne at 2,400-2,460 yuan/tonne in coastal areas (Guangxi 2,400, up 120; Guangdong not offered; Fujian 2,450, up 110). US soybean and its products surged last Friday, especially with a sharp rise in soymeal futures. This could be contributed to following reasons. Port workers in Argentina will continue the strike till this Wednesday, and though mills are operating normally, soybean shipments to mills and ports have been disrupted. Meanwhile, workers at Santos port, Brazil, will also vote this Monday on whether to hold a strike, and vehicles from inland to ports in this country have already decreased by 35%. These have stoked uncertainty in soybean and soymeal exports in South American countries. US exporters said last Thursday that they had sold soybeans to China, which could be an explanation that Chinese buyers were back to US markets with concerns over soybean supply in South America amid the coronavirus. For another, US soybean meal consumption will increase due to a decline in DDGS production, as ethanol plants have slashed operation rates after suffering losses in the wake of a steep fall in crude price. The above factors bolstered US soybean meal futures to jump sharply higher. In this case, meals on DCE today rise to the limit, and rapeseed meal is close to a limit up. On the other hand, rapeseed is in short supply amid continuous tensions between China and Canada. Over the next two weeks, the rapeseed crush in oil mills will slash to 35,000 tonnes and 28,000 tonnes. Moreover, many soybean crushers have halted operation. Last week, soybean crush fell by 5.7% to a four-year low of 1.38 mln tonnes. Also, soybean meal inventories are still very low, declining by 26% to 320,000 tonnes. Except that, the aquaculture in South area is likely to start slowly with the weather warming up. However, short-term rapeseed meal price will still follow the trend of soybean meal and be easy to rise but hard to down. As there is still a downside risk of price after an ease of short supply, buyers need to pay attention to the availability of soybean and soymeal.

Imported fishmeal: Imported fishmeal prices are stable with a partial rise today and can be traded through negotiation. Peruvian Standard SD with 65% protein content is 11,700-12,100 yuan/tonne, a partial rise of 200-400 yuan/tonne from last Friday; Peruvian higher-quality SD with 65% protein content is 12,000-12,500 yuan/tonne, a partial rise of 200-400 yuan/tonne; Peruvian higher-quality SD with 67% protein content is 12,600-13,000 yuan/tonne, a partial rise of 100-400 yuan/tonne; and Peruvian Super Prime SD with 68% protein content is 13,200-13,300 yuan/tonne, a partial rise of 200-400 yuan/tonne. Under the impact of the novel coronavirus, fishmeal exports have come to a suspension in Peru and test fishing also ceases in its southern regions. And some industry insiders even speculate that the country will postpone the time to start fishing in the centre-north regions. Hence, traders are encouraged to raise prices. However, the consumption of fishmeal in aquaculture is not much, and also in hog breeding due to low hog stocks. Therefore, there is limited upward space for fishmeal prices under dismal demand. Overall, fishmeal market is predicted to stay stable with a strengthening trend in the near term. Stocks at port: Huangpu 65,000 tonnes, Fuzhou 31,000 tonnes, Shanghai 38,000 tonnes, Tianjin 1,000 tonnes, Dalian 12,000 tonnes, Fangchenggang 1,000 tonnes and 4,000 tonnes at other ports. FOB quotes from foreign merchants today: It is quoted steadily at 1,450 USD/tonne for Peruvian Standard with 65% protein content and 1,750 USD/tonne for Peruvian super with 68% protein content. Chilean Standard with 65% protein content is quoted steadily at 1,420 USD/tonne, and super with 68% protein content at 1,720 USD/tonne. 

Cottonseed meal: Cottonseed meal prices are up 40-200 yuan/tonne today. Oil mills have low stocks of cottonseed meal. Besides, soybean meal futures on CBOT increase sharply, which boosts meals on DCE to a limit up. Meanwhile, soybean meal rise by 100-160 yuan/tonne in the spot market, offering support to cottonseed meal market. In consequence, cottonseed meal increases strongly. However, the demand for cottonseed meal is limited by narrow price spread between soybean meal and it. Likewise, the demand from aquaculture also has been in an off season. Therefore, there are not many new orders under a steep rise in cottonseed meal, and short-term prices will likely follow soybean meal to stay strong.