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Asia grain: China corn, India soyameal seen squeezed

SINGAPORE: Chinese corn and Indian soyameal are in short supply for nearby shipments with prices on the rise, but both remain less expensive than rivals, traders said on Tuesday.

"Some traders are selling Chinese corn above that (the country's official export price of $100 per tonne fob) because you can't get nearby cargoes," said a trader.

"Some shippers are short. They're covering nearby positions."

Traders said Chinese corn - a few dollars above or below the official export price depending on the shipment period - remains the cheapest.

U.S. corn was seen at around $115 per tonne C&F Southeast Asia, despite a retreat in Chicago.

Many in Asia, including Bangladesh, or the Middle East were considering buying Chinese corn, but few nearby cargoes were available mainly due to logistics problems in China, they said.

In addition to the limited number of ports equipped for loading corn, the celebration of Lunar New Year holidays around February 5 was expected to disrupt business for about two weeks, they said.

CHINA SEEN IN CORN-FOR-PALM-OIL DEAL WITH MALAYSIA

Traders said in a separate move China appeared to have sealed a corn-for-palm-oil deal with Malaysia, which usually imports about 120,000 tonnes of corn each month.

Some traders estimated that as a result 300,000 to 400,000 tonnes of Chinese corn would head for Malaysia.

No further details were available.

INDIAN SOYAMEAL PRICES UP, GOVERNMENT BEAN STOCK EYED

In the soyameal market, Indian meal prices moved up further to $202 per tonne, C&F Southeast Asia, compared with $195 a week ago and only a few dollars below its current main competitor from South America, traders said. They said there were still large short positions, while virtually no Indian soyameal for February was on offer and March cargoes were also limited.

Argentine soyameal for April shipment was quoted at lower around $195 C&F Southeast Asia, yet it would not arrive in the region until June, they said.

Given a recovery in Indian soyabean prices to 8,600-9,100 rupees a tonne from 7,300-7,400 in November, some traders said the Indian government might sell or might have already started to sell soyabeans procured under its price support scheme.

They estimated the government to have bought 150,000-500,000 tonnes of soyabeans, after pressure to meet its promise of supporting domestic prices at 8,450 last year.

Traders still expected Indian soyameal exports to reach 2.0 to 2.5 million tonnes in the current crop year, while domestic consumption might rise to between 900,000 and 1.1 million tonnes from 800,000-900,000 tonnes.-Reuters