Today (Oct 23), the market for meals in China is shown as follows:

Soybean meal: U.S. soybean futures further rose on Thursday on strong exports, but meal futures edge down on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange today. Spot soybean meal prices go down 10-20 CNY to 3,190-3,300 CNY/tonne today in coastal region, attracting some purchases on low-level basis. (Tianjin 3300, Shandong 3265-3300, Jiangsu 3210-3300, Dongguan 3190-3230, and Guangxi 3240-3260.)

The import cost of soybeans is rising due to consecutive gains in U.S. soybean futures. And the demand from both poultry and hog sectors are improving in China, particularly for hog feed. Hence, domestic crushers have strong sentiment for higher prices, which is supporting meal market. However, China’s soybean crush remains at a high level due to adequate soybean stocks, and domestic farmers usually scale down aquaculture from October. Moreover, forward sales post huge margins on Dalian, so millers are selling upon negative basis, which leads to certain pressure and curb price rises. Overall, short-term soybean meal prices will probably fluctuate and keep strengthening on bullish factors.

Imported rapeseed meal: U.S. soybean futures finished higher on Thursday on strong export sales. Meal futures in China extend the opening declines today. And rapeseed meal price in coastal regions settles down 10 CNY/tonne at 2,450-2,590 CNY/tonne, seeing a light trading. Soybean crush may pick up to an extremely high level of over 2.10 mln tonnes this week amid huge imports. Furthermore, aquaculture is gradually entering into an off season, which may weigh on rapeseed meal price. Besides, 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 gets tightened. And many soybean meal contracts remain to be fulfilled due to fast selling. Therefore, oil mills intend to prop up price, boosting meals price. In a hybrid of the bull and the bear, short-term rapeseed meal market is likely to move sideways with fluctuations.

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, domestic traders have strong 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 50,450 tonnes, Fuzhou 12,270 tonnes, Shanghai 20,250 tonnes, Tianjin 550 tonnes, Dalian 4,480 tonnes, Fangchenggang 1,100 tonnes and 3,960 tonnes at other ports.

FOB quotes from foreign markets today: Nov/Dec shipments are quoted steadily at 1,380 USD/tonne for Peruvian Standard with 65% protein content and at 1,610 USD/tonne for Peruvian super with 68% protein content. Chilean Standard with 65% protein content is quoted higher by 50 USD at 1,310 USD/tonne, and super with 68% protein content at 1,540 USD/tonne.

Cottonseed meal: Cottonseed meal prices further increase by 50-100 CNY/tonne in several regions today. U.S. soybean futures rose on Thursday on strong export sales, and the consecutive increase has lifted the cost of importing soybean. Besides, the production of pig feed in September has risen by 30% from a year earlier as livestock breeding is recovering gradually. Plus, soybean meal stocks in coastal regions have fallen by 5% to 880,000 tonnes this week, 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 fluctuate to go up following soybean meal.

(USD $1=CNY ¥6.67)