February 2, 2007

 

South Korea feed wheat imports down; DDGS up

 

 

During the first five months of MY 2006-07, South Korea's feed wheat imports totalled 412,000 tonnes, down 31 percent from the same time last year.

 

The drop is partly due to limited international feed wheat availability and higher world prices, according to a US Department of Agriculture report.

 

Despite this, South Korea is likely to import nearly 400,000 tonnes of feed wheat, nearly all from China, during the remainder of the marketing year, says the report. 

 

Meanwhile, during the first two months of MY 2006-07, imports of feed corn reached 1.1 million tonnes, up 17 percent from last year while that of processing corn increased by 12 percent to 300,000 tonnes.

 

The USDA attributes the growth to the tight availability of feed wheat imports from traditional markets. 

 

During this period, US corn accounted for 70 percent of total corn imports followed by Brazil and China.

 

Given rising feed wheat prices, South Korean millers are beginning to explore other protein substitutes such as DDGS and tapioca, says the agency report. 

 

Traders speculate that imports of DDGS might reach 100,000 tonnes this year with major suppliers being the US and China.  

 

Imports of feed tapioca could reach 150,000 tonnes.

 

The in-quota tariff for both processing corn and feed corn would remain unchanged in 2007, reports the USDA. 

 

For the full USDA report, please click here