Today (Oct 21), the market for meals in China is shown as follows:

Soybean meal: U.S. soybean futures rose on Tuesday on strong exports, and meal futures open high and expand gains on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange today. Spot soybean meal prices go up by 10-30 CNY to 3,230-3,310 CNY/tonne today in coastal region, attracting some low-level purchases. (Tianjin 3310, Shandong 3270-3280, Jiangsu 3230-3300, Dongguan 3230-3280, and Guangxi 3270-3300.) Due to handsome crush margins for Brazilian soybeans in forward contracts on Dalian, two foreign-funded oil mills uncommonly sold June-September contracts on the basis of M05-50 to -60 in after-hour trading last night, attracting some 520,000 tonnes of strong purchases.

The demand from both poultry and hog sectors are improving in China, particularly for hog feed. And soybean meal itself also makes up a big proportion in feed formula owing to its higher value-to-price ratio. Hence, oil mills are selling soybean meal at a quick pace. In the week as of Oct 16^th, China’s soybean meal stocks fell 5% weekly to 880,000 tonnes in coastal areas. Mills have almost sold out spot soybean meal in advance and are mainly carrying out contracts now, which are supporting meal prices. However, U.S. soybeans are facing sales pressure, and China’s soybean crush remains at a high level due to adequate soybean stocks. Meanwhile, farmers usually scale down aquaculture from October. Currently, crushers have begun to hurry up deliveries in Guangdong Province, which will limit the rise in meal prices. Overall, short-term soybean meal prices will probably fluctuate and keep strengthening on bullish factors. Buyers are suggested to make appropriate replenishment upon negative basis.

Imported rapeseed meal: U.S. soybean futures finished higher on Tuesday on strong export sales. Rapeseed meal futures on China’s Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange edge up today. And rapeseed meal price in coastal regions settles up 10 CNY/tonne at 2,460-2,590 CNY/tonne, seeing a light trading. Rapeseed crush still stays at low levels due to limited rapeseed imports amid tensions between Ottawa and Beijing. In this case, the supply of rapeseed meal in coastal regions gets tightened. And many contracts for soybean meal remain to be fulfilled due to fast selling, which boosts the overall market to stay strong. Therefore, rapeseed meal market is bolstered by these factors above and will still keep strengthening in the near term. Besides, soybean crush may further rise to an extremely high level of 2.10 mln tonnes this week amid huge imports. Furthermore, aquaculture is gradually entering into an off season, which may dampen buyers’ enthusiasm in chasing up price.

Imported fishmeal: Imported fishmeal prices steady today and can be traded through negotiation. Peruvian Standard SD with 65% protein content is 10,000-10,200 CNY/tonne; Peruvian higher-quality SD with 65% protein content is 10,500-10,700 CNY/tonne; Peruvian higher-quality SD with 67% protein content is 11,000-11,200 CNY/tonne; and Peruvian Super Prime SD with 68% protein content is 11,600-11,700 CNY/tonne. Domestic port inventories are not pressuring the market, and foreign market will hopefully keep firm and rising; hence, some domestic traders still have sentiment for propping up fishmeal prices. This is supporting domestic fishmeal market. However, aquaculture is entering into the off-season in China as the weather gets cool, so its feed demand for fishmeal is lessening and feed manufacturers tend to wait on the sidelines. Overall, domestic fishmeal prices are expected to steady with a slight rise in the near term.

Stocks at ports: Huangpu 49,500 tonnes, Fuzhou 11,580 tonnes, Shanghai 19,430 tonnes, Tianjin 530 tonnes, Dalian 4,210 tonnes, Fangchenggang 1,020 tonnes and 3,830 tonnes at other ports.

FOB quotes from foreign markets today: Nov/Dec shipments are quoted steadily at 1,350 USD/tonne for Peruvian Standard with 65% protein content and at 1,580 USD/tonne for Peruvian super with 68% protein content. Chilean Standard with 65% protein content is quoted at 1,260 USD/tonne, and super with 68% protein content at 1,490 USD/tonne.

Cottonseed meal: Cottonseed meal prices increase by 50 CNY/tonne in several regions today. U.S. soybean futures rose on Tuesday on strong export sales. Meal futures on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange extend the opening gains today, and spot soybean meal price in coastal regions steadily grows by 10-30 CNY/tonne. Besides, the crush margins of Brazilian soybean for forward contracts are considerable, and the demand for pig feed has improved as livestock breeding is recovering gradually. Plus, soybean meal accounts more in feed formula due to its higher cost performance compared to mixed meal. Moreover, soybean meal stocks have fallen by 5% to 880,000 tonnes this week result from fast selling, so crushing mills have strong intention to raise price. Additionally, manufacturers intend to prop up cottonseed meal price due to pricey cottonseed. Therefore, it is predicted that short-term cottonseed meal market may follow soybean meal to fluctuate to go up.

(USD $1=CNY ¥6.68)