SE Asian buyers seek 350,000 tons of corn<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (Reuter): Southeast Asian buyers are believed to be
\nseeking 350,000 tons of corn with Indonesia inquiring for 200,000
\ntons and Thai buyers awaiting government approval to purchase
\n150,000 tons, traders said yesterday.<\/p>\n
The Indonesians are worried that a severe drought, which some
\nbelieve is linked to the El Nino weather phenomenon, may sharply
\ntrim the October\/December corn harvest in Java.<\/p>\n
\"I think the Indonesians are looking around and a safe figure
\nwould be 200,000 tons,\" a dealer said.<\/p>\n
\"People are saying it's quite bad on Java. I think the El Nino
\nis affecting them. They will need at least 200,000 tons,\" another
\ndealer said.<\/p>\n
The 200,000 tons would be on top of 150,000 tons of mostly
\nChinese origin corn scheduled to arrive in Indonesia by mid-
\nAugust and 100,000 tons currently being discharged in the
\ncountry, dealers said.<\/p>\n
\"You have to remember that 200,000 is a conservative figure.
\nIt could easily go much higher,\" a trader said.<\/p>\n
\"From the way the Indonesians are buying corn lately, we can
\nsense something is wrong with the crop,\" a European dealer said.<\/p>\n
The El Nino, caused by rising water temperatures in the
\nPacific Ocean off the western coast of South America, can disrupt
\nglobal weather patterns with disastrous consequences.<\/p>\n
The weather anomaly is named after the Christ child by
\nPeruvian fishermen because it normally peaks in December around
\nChristmas.<\/p>\n
The most severe El Nino in recent memory in 1982-1983 caused
\nwidespread flooding and drought in more than 15 countries.<\/p>\n
Recent steady corn futures prices on the Chicago Board of
\nTrade (CBOT) have deterred the Indonesians from immediately
\nbuying corn.<\/p>\n
The price of U.S. corn coming into Southeast Asia was quoted
\nby the trade at around $133-$136 a ton C&F, almost unchanged from
\nlast week.<\/p>\n
Regional traders said they also waiting for the Thai
\ngovernment to approve an industry request to allow the tariff-
\nfree importation of 150,000 tons of corn.<\/p>\n
\"People say they need the corn, but when will they (the
\ngovernment) come up with a decision is anybody's guess,\" one
\ntrader said.<\/p>\n
The region's currency problems, caused by weeks of speculative
\nattacks that began with the Thai baht and which recently hit the
\nIndonesian rupiah, may cause some temporary delays in purchases,
\ndealers said.<\/p>\n
\"It's affected buyers here slightly. But if they have to buy,
\nthey'll buy,\" a trader said.<\/p>\n
Regional dealers also estimate that Indonesia still has open
\npositions for 50,000 tons of soymeal for October shipment while
\nThailand and Malaysia may pick up between 20,000-30,000 tons of
\nmeal each for the same shipment period.<\/p>\n
For the meantime, however, Malaysia is expected to stay out of
\nthe grains and oilseeds market.<\/p>\n
\"The Malaysians have too much of everything and the cargo is
\njust sitting there,\" a dealer said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/se-asian-buyers-seek-350000-tons-of-corn-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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