Today (Sep 14), the market for grains in China is shown as follows:

Corn:

Corn prices in China mainly stay stable with slight adjustment in some regions today. And the average price is 2,243 CNY/tonne nationwide, up by 3 CNY/tonne from last Friday. The price among deep-processing enterprises in Shandong prevails at 2,310-2,460 CNY/tonne, slightly adjusting by 10-20 CNY/tonne compared to last Friday. At Jinzhou port, Liaoning, the new corn with volume weight of 690-700 g/L (choicest and packed in cases, moisture within 14.5%) is priced at 2,250-2,260 CNY/tonne, up by 20-30 CNY/tonne from last Friday. At Guangdong port, Grade-II old corn price is offered at 2,370 CNY/tonne with a rise of 10 CNY/tonne from last Friday.

Corn-growing areas in Northeast China 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. Corn futures on Dalian’s Commodity Exchange sharply climb up today, closing 2,388 CNY/tonne at midday with a rise of 28 CNY/tonne. This has shored up market confidence. At the moment, traders with inventory in hand in Northeast area bull the market. And traders at Southern ports also intend to raise price. Corn price at ports increases by 10-20 CNY/tonne today. China increases the purchase of imported corn. 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. The loose supply is projected to limit upward space of spot corn price. Therefore, corn market will mainly stay stable at high levels until the worries about production ease.

Sorghum:

Domestic sorghum prices are stable today, of which dried sorghum prices prevail at around 2,900-3,000 CNY/tonne. The supply of sorghum is decreasing at present and grain merchants have seen bigger margins, so that farmers and traders have strong sentiment in propping up prices. In addition, domestic sorghum will see lower production as new crops in northeastern regions have been hit by typhoons. However, imported sorghum of lower prices will be arriving at domestic ports, and distilleries have limited demand, which will undermine domestic sorghum market. 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)