March 6, 2008

 

China corn prices mostly stable amid ample supply

 

 

China's corn prices were mostly stable in the week to Wednesday (March 6, 2008) as corn users were not actively purchasing, despite ample supply.

 

Corn prices in Jiamusi in Heilongjiang province - a major production region - were between RMB960 and RMB1,000 a tonne, stable from a week ago.

 

Corn prices in Qingdao city, Shandong province, were between RMB1,760 and RMB1,780/tonne, unchanged from the week before.

 

Corn prices in Zhoukou in Henan province were stable - between RMB1,600 and RMB1,660/tonne.

 

Industrial processing plants stayed on the sidelines, expecting prices will decline amid ample supply, the China Corn Network said.

 

The government's regular corn sales continued to help market prices maintain stable levels.

 

China sold 26,001 tonnes of corn from state reserves Tuesday - 6.13 percent of the 424,064 tonnes it had planned to sell.

 

The average price was RMB1,729/tonne, down from RMB1,773/tonne in last week's auction.

 

Including this sale, the government has sold 839,355 tonnes of corn from its state reserves since December, or 15.7 percent of the 5.35 million tonnes it plans to sell to help stabilize domestic feedmeal prices.

 

Meanwhile, an ongoing government plan to purchase 4 million tonnes of corn in northeastern producing regions helped support corn prices. Increased sales by farmers in preparation for spring planting also helped contain prices, the China National Grain and Oils Information Centre said.