Today (Aug 10), the market for meals in China is shown as follows:

Soybean meal: U.S. soybean futures fell sharply last Friday, and meal futures edge lower on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange today. Spot soybean meal prices go down 10-40 CNY/tonne to 2,810-2,900 CNY/tonne in coastal regions, attracting some low-level purchases. (Tianjin 2900, Shandong 2855-2900, Jiangsu 2825-2880, Dongguan 2810-2850, and Guangxi 2830-2870.) An abundant harvest outlook for U.S. soybeans under benign crop conditions is pressuring the futures market. Stronger CNY has also lowered down the cost of importing soybeans in China. And domestic crushers have to maintain high soybean crush due to huge soybean arrivals, so that soybean meal inventories have also noticeably mounted higher. Oil millers in regions like Guangdong have started to speed up soybean meal shipments. These are curbing meal prices. However, soybean meal is still expected to see some satisfactory purchases, as the demand for hog feed is increasing and soybean meal has a higher value-to-price ratio than alternative meals. Add to this, many millers have sold out August soybean meal and also completed a high proportion of forward sales, so that they are propping up prices while busy carrying out contracts. This will help reduce the decline in spot soybean meal prices. Short-term soybean meal prices are predicted to fluctuates to adjust, and buyers can wait for the moment.

Imported rapeseed meal: US soybean futures on Friday and rapeseed meal futures on Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange today went down. Rapeseed meal price in coastal regions settled down 10 CNY/tonne at 2,220-2,300 CNY/tonne, with tepid trading. The considerable crush margins of soybean futures stimulate China’s purchase, so soybean arrival at ports in August will surpass 10 mln tonnes, leading to an extremely high operation rate. As a result, the huge imports of soybean, along with high crush still carry the potential to bear the market. Except that, the weather in US soybean area is favorable. Moreover, US soybean yield is expected to set a historical record, and Brazilian new soybean crop also has prospects for a bumper harvest. These have together depressed meals prices. However, rapeseed crush stays at low levels due to limited rapeseed imports amid tensions between China and Canada. But aquaculture has entered into a peak season and breeding industry is also recovering gradually. Last week, rapeseed meal inventory in coastal regions was down to 28,800 tonnes with a decline of 14%. On the other side, people still have fears about the rising tensions between the US and China, which may bolster rapeseed meal price. Therefore, short-term rapeseed meal price will likely fluctuate at a narrow range. Buyers can stay on the sideline and make appropriate replenishment on the dips.

Imported fishmeal: Imported fishmeal prices are stable with a decline today and can be traded through negotiation. Peruvian Standard SD with 65% protein content is 10,800-11,000 CNY/tonne, down 100 CNY/tonne from last Friday; Peruvian higher-quality SD with 65% protein content is 11,200-11,500 CNY/tonne, down 100-200 CNY from last Friday; Peruvian higher-quality SD with 67% protein content is 12,200-12,500 CNY/tonne, down 100-200 CNY; and Peruvian Super Prime SD with 68% protein content is 12,700-13,000 CNY/tonne, down 100-300 CNY/tonne. Fresh Peruvian fishmeal of lower cost is reaching ports and there are few purchases at high rates in the market, so that some traders have flexibly undercut their offers today. This has injected some bearish sentiment to domestic fishmeal market. However, the demand for fishmeal is improving as aquaculture is recovering under clear weather, which may reduce the downside space in the market. Overall, domestic fishmeal market is predicted to stay stable with slight declines in the near term.

Stocks at ports: Huangpu 45,000 tonnes, Fuzhou 15,000 tonnes, Shanghai 27,000 tonnes, Tianjin 1,000 tonnes, Dalian 6,000 tonnes, Fangchenggang 1,000 tonnes and 4,000 tonnes at other ports.

FOB quotes from foreign markets today: Sept/Oct shipments are quoted steadily at 1,200 USD/tonne for Peruvian Standard with 65% protein content and at 1,430 USD/tonne for Peruvian super with 68% protein content. Chilean Standard with 65% protein content is quoted at 1,220 USD/tonne, and super with 68% protein content at 1,450 USD/tonne.

Fish catches in Peru: There was a suspension of fish catching between Aug 1-5. Up to now, fish catches in the first season of 2020 total 2,325,142 tonnes, exhausting 96.36% of the total quota of 2.413 mln tonnes and with the fishing average at around 27,000 tonnes per day and 87,858 tonnes remaining available. The fishing activity will continue till August 15th.

Cottonseed meal: Cottonseed meal prices decrease by 20-100 CNY/tonne today. U.S. soybean futures sharply fell on Friday. Meal futures on Dalian Commodity Exchange edged down today, and spot soybean meal declined by 10-40 CNY/tonne in coastal regions. Besides, the demand for cottonseed meal is reduced as feed mills adjust the feed formula due to its lower cost performance compared to soybean meal. Consequently, cottonseed oil trading gets lighter, depressing cottonseed meal price. However, cottonseed is pricey, pushing up the cost, so factories prop up cottonseed meal price. Therefore, short-term cottonseed meal market is predicted to pare gains.

(USD $1=CNY ¥6.96)