October 17, 200

China's Henan Sells 1.20M MT Old Wheat In Auction Wednesday and Thursday

China's Henan province auctioned over 1.20 million metric tons of old wheat from state reserves over the past two days, local traders and officials said Thursday.

"Today (Thursday) about half a million metric tons of old wheat was sold, " said a local grain trader Thursday, who participated in the auction held in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province.

In total, 1.21 million tons of old wheat was auctioned Wednesday and Thursday, exceeding the previously announced target of 1.00 million tons, traders said. On Wednesday, over 700,000 tons of old wheat was sold.

The price range of the wheat sold in the auction is 1,000 to 1,170 yuan ($1=CNY8.277) a ton, with the average prices pegged at CNY1,096.68/ton. The total revenue is pegged at CNY1.36 billion, said traders Thursday.

"The auction showed good demand from end users, as both the price and quantity of the wheat beat our expectation," an analyst from a local brokerage house in Henan told OsterDowJones, when asked about his impression of this auction.

The official from Zhengzhou Grains Wholesale Market also confirmed the price and other details of the wheat auction.

"We also sold a small portion of rice from state reserve in this auction, about 1,085 metric tons, " said the official late Thursday.

The price range of the rice sold in the auction is CNY900-920 a ton, and the average price is CNY910.78/ton, added the official.