Today (Sep 9), the market for grains in China is shown as follows:

Corn:

Corn prices in China mainly stay stable with slight adjustment today. And the average price is 2,236 CNY/tonne nationwide, up by 3 CNY/tonne from yesterday. The price among deep-processing enterprises in Shandong prevails at 2,290-2,460 CNY/tonne, adjusting by 20 CNY/tonne yesterday. At Jinzhou port, Liaoning, the new corn with volume weight of 690-700 g/L (choicest and packed in cases, moisture within 14.56%) is priced at 2,215-2,220 CNY/tonne, flat from yesterday. At Bayuquan port, Liaoning, the price of old corn with volume weight of 690 g/L (moisture 13.5%) is 2,180 CNY/tonne, an increase of 10 CNY/tonne from yesterday. At Guangdong port, Grade-II old corn price is offered at 2,340 CNY/tonne with no change from yesterday.

Northeastern corn-growing areas are whacked by Typhoon Maysak, seeing varying degrees of lodging in Heilongjiang and Jilin. And it is serious in some fields, so corn production is doomed to go down. At the moment, traders with inventory in hand in Northeast area still bull the market, and traders at Southern ports also tend to raise price. On the other hand, China increases the purchase of imported corn. It is said that China has granted the import quota for 10 mln tonnes of corn to a state-owned enterprise in addition to tariff quota, which could be indicated in the USDA report despite no official confirmation. Recently, China has been bringing in corn persistently. Meanwhile, imported corn has been arriving at ports successively in recent days, and the early-ripening new corn has entered market in North China. Hence, it will likely increase corn supply after September. But market buyers are not active in purchasing, so there is still pressure in fundamentals. Therefore, corn market will likely keep steady with fractional fluctuations in recent days. Additionally, another typhoon named Haishen will land in this week, so participants can pay more attention to the further impact on crop.

Sorghum:

Domestic sorghum prices are stable with a partial decline today, of which dried sorghum prices prevail at around 2,900-3,000 CNY/tonne. Domestic sorghum supplies are reducing and margins are growing, so that farmers and traders both tend to prop up prices. However, imported sorghum of lower cost will be arriving at domestic ports. Moreover, it becomes more difficult to stock up sorghum under warmer weather conditions, coupled with limited demand from distilleries, so that domestic sorghum market is weighed down. Overall, domestic sorghum prices are predicted to stay stale with a strengthening trend.

Imported sorghum prices are stable in China today with the average price at 2,258 CNY/tonne. 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 231,000 tonnes as of Sept 4. 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 today with the average at 1,984 CNY/tonne. As of Sept 4th, imported barley stocks totaled 402,000 tonnes at Guangdong ports. There will be vessels arriving gradually in coming months, while downstream buyers have weak demand now, which will be negative to the market. In addition, barley shipments from Argentina, Canada and France have been flowing toward China as a conflict between China and Australia reshapes global trade pattern. On September 1, China’s General Administration of Customs said barley shipments from Australia’s largest grain exporter would be halted so as to protect agricultural production and bio-safety in China, as pests were found on multiple occasions, a move will further disrupt barley trade between these two nations. With the market closed, Australian farmers will receive about A$50/tonne less than what China would typically pay. Overall, imported barley prices are predicted to stay stable with a weakening trend in China.

(USD $1=CNY ¥6.84)