April 19, 2012

South Korea's Nofi purchases 65,000 tonnes optional origin corn

A cargo of 65,000 tonnes of optional origin corn from Hamburg-based Alfred C. Toepfer International GmbH has been purchased by South Korea's Nonghyup Feed Inc., or Nofi, Wednesday (Apr 18) at US$296.88/tonne for arrival July 1, trading executives said.

An additional charge of US$1.75/tonne each will be paid for unloading part of the cargo at a second or third port, they said. Southeast Asian buyers are snapping up cargoes of feed grains such as corn and soymeal to take advantage of the latest downward correction in global prices. However, the price is still higher compared with a South Korean purchase at US$289.90/tonne, C&F three weeks ago.

Near-month May corn futures on the Chicago Board of Trade, which rose 9% in just three days to end at US$6.5825 a bushel April 3--amid supply concerns--have since declined 6.6% and are now trading around US$6.15 a bushel on profit-taking and fund selling.