Today (May 22), the market for grains in China is shown as follows:
Corn:
Domestic corn prices decline further today. The price among deep-processing enterprises in Shandong prevails at 2,126-2,190 CNY/tonne with a decrease of 10-30 CNY/tonne from yesterday. At Jinzhou port, Liaoning, the purchasing price of corn is 2,000-2,010 CNY/tonne (moisture 15% and volume weight 700 g/L) down by 10 CNY/tonne from yesterday and 2,030 CNY/tonne (moisture 15% and volume weight 720 g/L) down by 5-10 CNY/tonne from yesterday, respectively. At Shekou port, Guangdong, the second-class corn is priced at 2,090 CNY/tonne and unchanged with yesterday.
The first round of auction for temporary-reserved corn would be held on May 28, totaling 4 mln tonnes. And the reserve will remain flat from last year. Finally the policy auction has come to a close. Moreover, the cost is still lower than current price if in accordance with a premium of 100 CNY/tonne in various regions. In addition, market expects a decline in demand for poultry in May and June, so feed enterprises are also not active in taking purchase. Furthermore, imported corn and grain are arriving at Southern ports in succession, which may restrict the market trend. At the moment, most of enterprises stay on the sideline and wait for the auction for corn. And some traders who stockpile corn in hand are more willing to clear out stocks. Today, the morning arrivals of corn in Shandong continue increasing. Also, many enterprises cut the purchasing price successively, with a decline of 10-30 CNY/tonne. Therefore, corn price is projected to fall slightly in the near term.
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)
