September 6, 2011

China's state-owned grain trader COFCO Corp has deferred some soy purchases due to high world soy prices, but the overall purchase plan is unaffected, a senior official said Monday (Sep 5).

Soy crushing margins have improved after a 5%-10% price hike for retail prices but still remain in negative territory, with losses at RMB100-RMB200 (US$16-31) a tonne, said Fei Zhonghai, deputy general manager of COFCO Agri-Trading & Logistics.

He also said the company's overall soy demand in 2012 will be higher than 2011, but did not provide specific figures.