Today (May 19), the market for grains in China is shown as follows:
Corn:
Domestic corn prices keep steady mainly and adjust slightly in several regions today. The price among deep-processing enterprises in Shandong prevails at 2,170-2,240 CNY/tonne with several rises of 10 CNY/tonne from yesterday. At Jinzhou port, Liaoning, the purchasing price of corn is flat from yesterday at 2,010 CNY/tonne (moisture 15% and volume weight 700 g/L) and 2,035-2,040 CNY/tonne (moisture 15% and volume weight 720 g/L), respectively. At Shekou port, Guangdong, the second-class corn is priced at 2,110 CNY/tonne, which is unchanged from yesterday.
For the moment, the remainder of corn has bottomed out, and some traders still bull the after-market and have a wait-and-see mood with the policy auction being not announced. Besides, the morning arrivals of corn in Shandong increase to around 500 trucks, but there are still not many overall. Thus, the phased tight supply goes on offering support to market. Nevertheless, the positivity of downstream enterprises in recovering poultry population is affected by recent losses in poultry breeding, and market expects a decline in demand for poultry in May and June, so feed enterprises are also not active in taking purchase. It is said that China hands out more grain low-tariff import quotas to increase purchases. Additionally, imported corn and grain are arriving at Southern ports in succession, which may restrict the market trend. In a hybrid of the bull and the bear, domestic corn prices keep steady but fluctuate by 10 CNY/tonne in several regions. Therefore, corn market is predicted to stay stable with slight fluctuations tentatively before policy becomes clear.
Sorghum:
Domestic sorghum prices are stable today, of which dried sorghum prices prevail at around 2,700-2,780 CNY/tonne. Both farmers and traders have a strong sentiment for higher prices, as sorghum supplies are reducing and margins are growing. But imported sorghum is in huge volume and at relatively low prices, and warmer weather also makes it difficult to keep goods in stock, which will to some extent weigh on domestic sorghum market. Overall, domestic sorghum prices are predicted to maintain its stable trend.
Imported sorghum prices are flat today, of which US raw sorghum is quoted at 2,090 CNY/tonne. There is no goods available at both Tianjin port and Shanghai port, and only some small supply at Guangdong ports, which support US sorghum prices to maintain a strengthening trend. However, in the week ending May 14th, US sorghum exports to China mainland totaled 202,113 tonnes, with a total of 1,145,450 tonnes since March, according to USDA weekly report on exports for inspected. This weighs down sorghum market prospect.
Barley:
Imported barley prices are stable today. Hog and sow stocks continue rising moderately, adding to the demand for feed, and traders tend to stall sales to prop up prices, which are bullish to the market. Moreover, starting May 19, China will impose 80.5% of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tariffs on barley originating in Australia for five years, according to announcements by China’s Ministry of Commerce on May 18th. With bullish factors, imported barley prices are predicted to keep steady with a strengthening trend overall.
(USD $1=CNY ￥7.09)
