April 27, 2011

Vietnam buys up to 80,000 tonnes Australian feed wheat monthly

Vietnam has increased its purchases of Australian feed wheat to take advantage of a steep discount of nearly US$80/tonne over US corn, stated trading executives Tuesday (Apr 26).

Vietnam recently purchased a cargo of 12,000 tonnes of Australian feed wheat around US$300 a tonne, cost and freight, and is buying at least two bulk cargoes a month of between 30,000 tonnes and 40,000 tonnes, one executive said on the sidelines of a grains conference.

He said most of Vietnam's imports have been around US$310/tonne, c&f, for grain with test weight of 68-70, but the latest purchase was US$10 cheaper as it had a test weight of 65. Test weight is a quality parameter for grains.

Traders said Vietnam has slowed imports of corn due to a large premium to wheat in the cash market.