Today (Aug 20), the market for grains in China is shown as follows:

Corn:

Corn prices in China mostly keep steady with slight adjustment in some regions. And the average price is 2,278 CNY/tonne nationwide, up by 2 CNY/tonne from yesterday. The price among deep-processing enterprises in Shandong prevails at 2,410-2,454 CNY/tonne, which partly declines by 8-20 CNY/tonne from yesterday. At Jinzhou port, Liaoning, the old corn with volume weight of 690-700 g/L is priced at 2,250 CNY/tonne (better quality) and with volume weight of 720 g/L is priced at 2,270-2,280 CNY/tonne, both unchanged with yesterday. At Guangdong port, the offer for Grade-II old corn is 2,410 CNY/tonne, and bulk Grade- II new corn is priced at 2,450 CNY/tonne, up by 10 CNY/tonne from yesterday.

Corn futures on Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) keep strengthening and climbing up, which is bullish for spot market. For the moment, traders in Northern area are reluctant to sell the stocks in hand. And there’s no distinct increase in corn outflow. Moreover, corn price at Northern and Southern ports stays firmly at high levels, and the morning arrival among deep-processing enterprises in Shandong decreases again today. Hence, short-term corn market is supported from bottoms, and will likely fluctuate slightly at high levels. Buyers can keep eyes on the ex-warehouse of corn in Northern area.

Sorghum:

Domestic sorghum prices are stable today, of which dried sorghum prices prevail at around 2,840-2,900 CNY/tonne. Domestic sorghum supplies are reducing and margins are growing, so that farmers and traders both tend to prop up prices. However, Chinese importers have bought relatively huge amount of sorghum, which will be at relatively low prices. Moreover, it become more difficult to stock up sorghum as the weather gets warmer and warmer, and distilleries have also suspended purchases and production entering the hottest period of summer. These together weigh down domestic sorghum market to some extent. Overall, domestic sorghum prices are predicted to maintain its stable trend.

Imported sorghum prices are stable in China today, as market participants are concerned that escalating U.S.-China tensions could affect future imports of sorghum. Moreover, the cost of importing sorghum is also strengthening due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, imported sorghum stocks at Guangdong ports still total 338,000 tonnes as of Aug 14. And an expected rise in sorghum arrivals will probably weigh down US sorghum prices in China. Participants can focus on the development of US-China relations.

Barley:

Imported barley prices are stable with a partial decline today. As of Aug 14th, imported barley stocks totaled 72,000 tonnes at Guangdong ports. There will be vessels arriving gradually in coming months, with some 250,000 tonnes expected to arrive this week. Downstream buyers have weak demand for barley now, which slows down shipments. Overall, imported barley prices are predicted to stay stable with a weakening trend in China.

Earlier this year, China announced anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties totalling 80.5% on Australian barley imports from May 19 for five years. And recently, Australia has appealed to China’s Ministry of Commerce to conduct a formal review on barley tariffs. Should the decision come at the tail-end of the 90-day window, it would be delivered just as Australian farmers harvest a barley crop that’s forecast to hit a four-year high of more than 10 mln tonnes, according to a media report. The report also said Australia will look to markets such as Saudi Arabia, though traders said that farmers would need to accept a haircut of $50 ($36.12) per tonne compared to what Chinese buyers paid.

(USD $1=CNY ¥6.93)