Today (Nov 27), the market for meals in China is shown as follows:

Soybean meal: CBOT was closed on the Thanksgiving Day Thursday, and meal futures edge lower on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange today. Spot soybean meal prices steadily go down by 10-20 CNY to 3,090-3,220 CNY/tonne in coastal regions in tepid trade. (Tianjin 3220, Shandong 3140-3170, Jiangsu 3080-3110, Dongguan 3090-3100, and Guangxi 3150-3170.)

China’s soybean arrivals are predicted to be 141 vessels or 9.26 mln tonnes in December, and soybean crush maintains at a high level owing to ample feedstock supply. Meantime, China’s soybean meal market has been in lackluster trade and slow delivery as aquaculture is seasonally fading, and some crushers halt production under ballooning inventories. However, Chinese soybean importers are canceling some cargoes as net crush margins for Dec-Feb shipment on Dalian have been collapsing due to continuously climbing import cost, and some crushers have made a plan for downtime later this month. Moreover, feed demand shows a positive prospect now with a sustaining recovery in the pig sector. And there exists a global inflation expectation. These are all supporting meal prices. In a hybrid of the bull and the bear, short-term soybean meal market is predicted to follow futures to fluctuate frequently, but the volatility will not be wild.

Imported rapeseed meal: CBOT was closed on Thanksgiving Day. Rapeseed meal futures fall back slightly today on China’s Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange. And rapeseed meal price in coastal regions settles partly down 10 CNY/tonne at 2,450-2,500 CNY/tonne, seeing a light trading. With expected almost 9.26 mln tonnes of soybeans arriving at ports in December, weekly soybean crush will maintain an extremely high level of 2 mln tonnes. Besides, aquaculture is gradually entering into an off season, so the delivery of soybean meal slows recently, which causes its stocks to increase by 15% to 1 mln tonnes. And rapeseed meal is in ample supply in Guangdong region, which has dragged down rapeseed meal price. Additionally, rapeseed crush stays at a low level due to limited availability of rapeseed amid tensions between Canada and China, which will likely curb its declines. It is predicted that short-term rapeseed meal market will fluctuate frequently tracking futures.

Imported fishmeal: Imported fishmeal prices are stable today and can be traded through negotiation. Peruvian Standard SD with 65% protein content is 9,900-10,100 CNY/tonne; Peruvian higher-quality SD with 65% protein content is 10,300-10,600 CNY/tonne; Peruvian higher-quality SD with 67% protein content is 10,800-11,000 CNY/tonne; and Peruvian Super Prime SD with 68% protein content is 11,300-11,400 CNY/tonne. Peruvian sellers have hiked their offers as they completed presales of more than a half, and Chinese traders have also steadily raised prices as there is no pressure in stock. Merely, domestic demand for fishmeal is decreasing in aquaculture as the weather gets cool, so that feed companies are not busy making purchases, which is constraining the market. Overall, domestic fishmeal prices are expected to steady with slight adjustments in the near term.

Stocks at ports: Dalian 7,350 tonnes, Tianjin 750 tonnes, Shanghai 31,800 tonnes, Huangpu 65,400 tonnes, Fuzhou 13,700 tonnes, Fangchenggang 1,750 tonnes and 4,550 tonnes at other ports.

FOB quotes from foreign markets today: Dec/Jan shipments are quoted steadily at 1,330 USD/tonne for Peruvian Standard with 65% protein content and at 1,550 USD/tonne for Peruvian super with 68% protein content. Chilean Standard with 65% protein content is quoted steadily at 1,370 USD/tonne, and super with 68% protein content at 1,600 USD/tonne.

Cottonseed meal: Cottonseed meal prices in part fluctuate by 50 CNY/tonne today. CBOT was closed on Thanksgiving Day. Meal futures edge down on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange today, and spot soybean meal steadily down by 10-20 CNY/tonne in coastal regions. Soybean crush maintains a high level amid huge imports. Besides, aquaculture has entered into a slack season, so soybean meal trading goes lighter and deliveries also slow. In this case, soybean meal stocks keep increasing and some oil plants even halt the production due to bloated inventory, curbing meal price. And cottonseed meal trading also becomes tepid. All these factors have brought cottonseed meal market bearish sentiment. Furthermore, the high cost still offers support to cottonseed meal market. Therefore, it is expected that short-term cottonseed meal market will mainly fluctuate at a narrow range.

(USD $1=CNY ¥6.58)