August 16, 2007

Israeli grain importers buy 100,000 tonnes of US corn

A group of Israeli private buyers has bought 100,000 tonnes of US-origin corn in a tender for up to 56,000 tonnes which closed on Wednesday (August 15), European traders said.

The consortium also bought about 16,000 tonnes of US sorghum.

A trader said US corn is very competitive in the Middle East as high ocean shipping costs are a great disadvantage to South American suppliers.

Shipment is to be delivered November 1 to 20.

Traders said US corn was benefiting from Ukraine's temporary ban on wheat exports this summer, which had turned some Middle Eastern feed producers towards corn and sorghum.

Israeli buyers traditionally seek bids from US, Argentine and Brazilian corn suppliers. However, the tender issued on Monday has only sought bids from the US.

The Baltic Exchange's dry freight index, which measures the strength of seaborne trade for dry commodities, hit a fresh record on Friday on strong demand for commodities and port congestion in the Pacific.

On July 25, a group of Israeli private buyers purchased about 90,000 tonnes of US-origin corn and 25,000 tonnes of US-origin sorghum after seeking bids from the US and South America.