Today (Sep 16), the market for grains in China is shown as follows:

Corn:

Corn prices in China mainly stay stable at a high level. And the average price is 2,260 CNY/tonne nationwide, up by 3 CNY/tonne from yesterday. The price among deep-processing enterprises in Shandong prevails at 2,340-2,460 CNY/tonne, up by 10-20 CNY/tonne compared to yesterday. At Jinzhou port, Liaoning, the new corn with volume weight of 690-700 g/L (moisture within 14.5%, impurity within 1%, mildew within 2%) is priced at 2,250-2,260 CNY/tonne, flat from yesterday. At Bayuquan port, Liaoning, the price of old corn with volume weight of 690 g/L (moisture with 13.5%, mildew with 4%, impurity with 1% and unsound kernel with 10%) is unchanged at 2,250 CNY/tonne. At Guangdong port, Grade-II old corn price is offered at 2,420 CNY/tonne with no change from yesterday.

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 output is doomed to go down. At the moment, traders with inventory in hand in Northeast area bull the market. And China increases the purchase of imported corn. China has pledged to buy about 9 mln tonnes of corn from U.S. in the marketing year of 2020/21, according to USDA. 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 stay strong until the worries about reduced output ease. Corn price in North China will fluctuate fractionally in stability.

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 and the average price is at 2,265 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 269,000 tonnes as of Sept 11. 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 and the average is at 1,986 CNY/tonne. As of Sept 11, imported barley stocks totaled 380,000 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, which is also undermining domestic barley market. Merely, China has halted barley imports from Australia’s largest grain exporter whose shipments were found with pests on multiple occasions. This further disrupt barley trade between these two nations. Overall, imported barley prices are predicted to stay stable in China.

(USD $1=CNY ¥6.78)