Today (Oct 12), the market for grains in China is shown as follows:

Corn:

Corn prices stay stable with a further increase in some regions of China today. And the average price is 2,335 CNY/tonne nationwide, up 12 CNY/tonne from last Saturday. The price among deep-processing enterprises in Shandong prevails at 2,340-2,440 CNY/tonne with partial rise of 10-40 CNY/tonne compared to last Saturday. At Jinzhou port, Liaoning, the purchasing price of 2020 new corn is raised to 2,450 CNY/tonne, up by 30-35 CNY/tonne from yesterday. At Guangdong port, Grade-II old corn price is raised to 2,520 CNY/tonne, an increase of 20 CNY/tonne from last Friday. Tiancheng Group in Siping, Jilin has started purchasing new corn since Sept 29, and offered the price of Grade-III new corn still at 2,240 CNY/tonne. The purchasing price of Grade-III new corn offered by Longfeng company in Suihua Qinggang, Heilongjiang is 2,140 CNY/tonne, versus 2,120 CNY last Saturday.

Due to reduced corn output in growing area and less corn volume oriented by policy, available corn in market gets tightened. And marketers are bulling the outlook, so they intend to stock up corn. For the moment, Northeastern corn has not largely gone marketing yet, and there is corn from North China flowing into Northeast market. As of now, corn sales in North China are relatively slow on the whole. And the arrival of corn at Shandong deep-processing enterprises is still not considerable. In light of demand side, corn consumption among deep-processing enterprises in Northeast area is steadily increasing, thereby seeing a steady growth in feed production in recent months and particularly larger in September. Besides, corn futures on Dalian Commodity Exchange continue skyrocketing amid a large buying. These have together boosted corn market, and the price further rises by 10-60 CNY/tonne in some regions today. In the near term, corn market will maintain high levels amid bullish market sentiment. And buyers can close eyes on the marketing of new corn.

Sorghum:

Domestic sorghum prices are stable today. 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, which will undermine domestic sorghum market. Overall, domestic sorghum prices are predicted to stay stale with a strengthening trend.

Imported sorghum prices are flat in China today with the average price at 2,506 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, and domestic holders now have small stocks of Australian sorghum amid tensions between China and Australia. However, imported sorghum stocks at Guangdong ports still total 279,000 tonnes as of Oct 9. 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 steady with a partial rise today and the average price is at 1,997 CNY/tonne. As of Oct 9, imported barley stocks totaled 643,000 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 disrupts barley trade between these two nations. Overall, imported barley prices are predicted to stay stable in China.

(USD $1=CNY ¥6.71)