Today (Aug 24), the market for meals in China is shown as follows:

Soybean meal: U.S. soybean futures fell last Friday on the forecast for rains and a bumper harvest outlook, but meal futures move higher after lower opens on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange today. Spot soybean meal prices fluctuate 10-20 CNY/tonne to 2,780-2,900 CNY/tonne in coastal regions, with stronger trade on low levels. (Tianjin 2890-2900, Shandong 2825-2880, Jiangsu 2800-2860, Dongguan 2780-2800, and Guangxi 2820-2840.) Soybean imports are massive and soybean crush stays stubbornly high in China. Following a slower pace in deliveries, soybean meal stocks rose 11% weekly to 1.14 mln tonnes in domestic coastal regions, so that millers are seeking to quicken shipments in face of ballooning inventories. And market participants choose to wait on the sideline in the wake of a decline on the DCE. But hog, poultry and aquaculture are in a recovery, and soybean meal has a higher value-to-price ratio compared with rival meals. Add to that, millers still have many outstanding contracts, which also limits the decline in price. In the short term, soybean meal prices will probably keep range-bound.

Imported rapeseed meal: U.S. soybean futures closed down on Friday. Meal futures in China today moderately go up. And rapeseed meal price in coastal regions settles up 10 CNY/tonne at 2,210-2,300 CNY/tonne, seeing a light trading. Rapeseed crush still stays at low levels due to limited rapeseed imports amid tensions between China and Canada. Besides, aquaculture has been in a peak season, and rapeseed meal inventories in coastal areas set at 22,000 tonnes, a decline of 14% compared to the previous week. Likewise, livestock breeding is also recovering gradually, so oil plants have basically sold out soybean meal stocks crushed in August. Accordingly, the overall soybean meal market still keeps strengthening, boosting rapeseed meal market. In addition, soybean is in ample supply, and the monthly arrival of soybean could reach up to over 8 mln tonnes in the fourth quarter. In this case, soybean crush will remain super high. Last week, soybean crush was up 2.6% to 2.02 mln tonnes. Thus, short-term rapeseed meal price will probably fluctuate at a narrow range. Buyers can wait for low and stable price to make proper replenishment and should be cautious in chasing up price.

Imported fishmeal: Imported fishmeal prices are stable with a partial decline today and can be traded through negotiation. Peruvian Standard SD with 65% protein content is 10,400-10,500 CNY/tonne; Peruvian higher-quality SD with 65% protein content is 10,800-11,000 CNY/tonne; Peruvian higher-quality SD with 67% protein content is 11,700-11,900 CNY/tonne; and Peruvian Super Prime SD with 68% protein content is 12,200-12,300 CNY/tonne, a partial decline of 100 CNY/tonne. Domestic importers now have not much fishmeal in hand, so that prices are mostly stable today. But more and more fresh fishmeal cargoes are arriving at domestic ports and are of lower cost, while the demand is not as good as expected, so that many traders are rushing to lock profits. This is adding bearish sentiment to the market.

Stocks at ports: Huangpu 48,000 tonnes, Fuzhou 14,000 tonnes, Shanghai 30,000 tonnes, Tianjin 1,000 tonnes, Dalian 7,000 tonnes, Fangchenggang 1,000 tonnes and 4,000 tonnes at other ports.

FOB quotes from foreign markets today: Sept/Oct shipments are quoted at 1,220 USD/tonne for Peruvian Standard with 65% protein content and at 1,450 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: The first fishing season for centre-north oceans in 2020 has concluded on August 15; and for southern regions, the maximum allowable catch quota is 435,000 tonnes, starting on August 1.

Cottonseed meal: Cottonseed meal prices stay stable today. Soybean crush maintain high levels as soybean arrival at ports is huge in quantity. Recently the delivery of soybean meal has been slowed. In this case, soybean meal stocks in coastal regions further rise by 11% to 1.14 mln tonne from a weak earlier, and some plants are even faced with over stock. Additionally, 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. But cottonseed is pricey, pushing up the cost. Accordingly, factories have intention to prop up price. It is expected that cottonseed meal market may fluctuate narrowly in the near term.

(USD $1=CNY ¥6.92)