According to market operators, Chinese importers have contracted a large volume of corn from Ukraine over the past two weeks, Reuters reports.
At the moment, traders are not ready to indicate the exact volume of grain purchased, but some of them, mainly European ones, estimate the total volume of purchases from 500 thousand tons to 1 million tons with delivery in October-December of this year. Traders from Singapore estimate the volume of grain purchases at 10-12 Panamax cargoes (1 cargo can transport from 60 thousand tons) with delivery in November-December of this year.
An unnamed source in the Ukrainian government also confirmed information about the sale of corn to China.
As noted, the active demand of Chinese importers is due to the fact that corn of Ukrainian origin is currently one of the cheapest on the market. Thus, according to Ukrainian farmers, grain prices decreased by 40% due to the impossibility of free export. At the same time, even the established maritime “grain corridor” and the operation of river ports on the Danube cannot compensate for the previously existing export routes of the Odessa and Nikolaev ports.
Let us remind you that China is traditionally one of the largest buyers of Ukrainian corn to meet the needs for animal feed. Shipments of Chinese corn were among the largest types of cargo transported by the Black Sea Grain Corridor.