May 4, 2004

South Korea AFMC Fails To Buy Soybean In Tender

The Agricultural and Fishery Marketing Corp. didn't buy any soybeans in a tender seeking 25,000 metric tons of the commodity Tuesday because it received only one offer, a company official said.

The AFMC was seeking U.S. soybeans that didn't contain genetically modified organisms for Aug. 20 arrival at the port of Incheon.

This is the second time the AFMC failed to buy any non-GMO soybeans. It also failed to purchase the commodity in a similar tender last Tuesday seeking non-GMO soybeans for September 2005 arrival.

The company official attributed the lack of offers to a scant supply of non-GMO soybeans on the market.

April 12, the AFMC bought 100,000 tons of U.S. No. 1 soybeans from trading house Toepfer - four cargoes of 25,000 tons each - at an unspecified price. These cargoes are for arrival at the port of Incheon from mid-December 2004 to early-July 2005.