Japanese companies may buy another 1 million tonnes of corn for Q1

"Japanese companies still have around 1 million tonnes more corn to buy to fulfill corn requirements for the first quarter of 2009," said Nobuyuki Chino, president of Unipac Grain Ltd., a Tokyo-based grain import firm.

Chino added that as corn for the first two months of the year has already been bought, most of the corn that will be bought in the next 15-20 days will be for March shipment.

He said buying for the second quarter will begin sometime in February.

"Traders are buying cautiously, as they expect US corn prices to fall further as the credit crunch continues in the US and the yen becomes stronger against the dollar," he said.

Chino said that while deals are being struck for US corn at US$207/tonne, cost and freight basis, for March shipment, there are expectations that deals for April shipment could be struck around US$195/tonne.

Japan is the world's biggest corn importer and buys slightly more than 4 million tonnes each quarter. It buys corn almost exclusively from the US.