October 31, 2011

Taiwanese traders buy Ukrainian corn

Private buyers in Taiwan have made rare purchases of Ukrainian corn, tonnage undisclosed, a European trade source said Friday (Oct 28).

Ukrainian corn was said to be being offered to Asian buyers at the low price of between US$280 to US$290 a tonne c&f. On Friday, a Taiwanese group bought Brazilian corn at US$329.50 a tonne c&f.

This follows a report on Wednesday that Japan also bought major volumes of Ukrainian corn in unusual purchases.

Ukraine corn for export was on Friday trading at US$255/$257 a tonne FOB Black Sea with a delivery in January-February. That is up US$3 per tonne against Thursday.

The former Soviet republic on October 19 ended its export taxes on wheat and corn, opening the door for large exports after a good crop.

"It shows that we are ready to compete with maize from the US and Europe," said Serhiy Stoyanov, director of the Ukrainian Agrarian Confederation.

Taiwan traditionally buys corn from the US and South American suppliers, especially Brazil.

"Ukrainian corn is currently being offered very cheaply in Asian markets following the removal of export taxes," another trader said. "I think there will be more sales of this type soon. There is no such thing as a captive market when low prices are being offered."

Ukraine made no corn supplies to Taiwan in the 2010/11 season but sold a modest 558 tonnes of the commodity to this country this September in the first shipment for at least 15 months, according to data from Ukragroconsult.

Ukraine exported a total of 4.9 million tonnes of corn in 2010/11. It sold abroad about 110,000 tonnes of corn in July-September 2011.