March 23, 2012

China buys 350,000 tonnes Australian feed wheat 

The trading houses of China purchased 350,000 tonnes of Australian origin feed wheat, a financial news arm of the state-controlled Xinhua news agency reported Thursday (Mar 22).

The imports were booked "in recent days," Xinhua08 said, without elaborating.

Analysts said the estimated price of US$280/tonne was well below domestic prices, which likely spurred the imports, slated for delivery around mid-year.

China's domestic feed wheat prices are around RMB2,000/tonne (US$317.53), while the Australian imports translate to around RMB1,760/tonne (US$279.42), cost and freight, said a wheat analyst with Zhengzhou Esunny Information & Technology Co.

Customs data released Wednesday showed China imported 584,853 tonnes of wheat in the first two months this year compared with 175,178 tonnes in the same period last year.