August 5, 2009
China reports lower sales, flat price in third corn auction
China sold 833,900 tonnes of corn in the third round of state corn reserve auctions on Tuesday (Aug 4), 10 percent lower than the second round, as buyers expected ample offers in the coming months ahead of the November harvest.
The auctions, which began two weeks ago in four regions, are part of efforts by the central government to stabilise corn prices.
A total of 2.5 million tonnes of corn had been sold through the three rounds of auctions, according to data published by the China National Grain & Oil Trade Centre (CNGOC).
The centre added that bidders paid an average price of RMB1,584 (US$232) per tonne for the corn sold on Tuesday, a slight drop from last week's RMB1,590.
China started its destocking efforts on July 21, offering two million tonnes of corn and 500,000 tonnes of soy from state reserves each week.
China's decision to auction some of its corn reserves, which stands at 40 million tonnes in total, was to curb the steadily rising prices and ease the tight supplies situation in some major agricultural regions.
|
Province |
Quota (tonnes) |
Sold (tonnes) |
Percent sold (%) |
Average Price (RMB/tonne) |
|
|
300,000 |
120,300 |
40.1 |
1,534 |
|
|
399,900 |
98,500 |
24.63 |
1,599 |
|
|
801,900 |
267,300 |
33.33 |
1,570 |
|
|
499,700 |
347,800 |
69.6 |
1,609 |
|
Total |
2,001,500 |
833,900 |
41.66 |
1,584 |
