December 1, 2010

China sells less corn at weekly auction

The Chinese government sold 19.5% of the 1.5 million tonnes of corn reserves offered at a regular auction Tuesday (Nov 30), compared with 23% of a similar volume sold last week.

According to the China National Grain and Oil Information Centre, the average auction price Tuesday was RMB1,883 (US$282)/tonne for corn harvested in crop year that ended September 30, 2008, down from RMB1,912 (US$286)/tonne last week.

For 2008-09 corn, the average price was RMB1,882/tonne, down from RMB1,913 last week.

Grain authorities have been releasing corn from stockpiles in weekly auctions to stave off price increases.

Benchmark corn for September delivery traded at the Dalian Commodities Exchange settled at RMB2,271 (US$340)/tonne Tuesday, down 5.8% from a record RMB2,411 (US$361) settlement price on November 10.