RI and Malaysia hold off purchase of soymeal
RI and Malaysia hold off purchase of soymeal
SINGAPORE (Reuter): Malaysia and Indonesia are looking to buy
up to 100,000 tons of soymeal for late-1996 delivery, but are
holding back because they find prices too high, regional traders
said yesterday.
"I think both countries still have some slots for meal," a
senior trader with a Western commodity house told Reuters.
"The story in this region is meal demand," another trader
said. "I don't see anything else but hand-to-mouth activity here.
It's all small stuff at the moment."
Both nations may buy three or four more cargoes of soymeal for
around US$300-$305 a ton C&F, but prices of new crop Indian
soymeal on a Panamax vessel for November/December shipment are
now quoted around $318-$325 a ton C&F.
U.S. low-protein soymeal was indicated at about $320 a ton
C&F, they said.
Thailand is also looking at some cargoes of soymeal going into
next year, but further details were not available. On Wednesday,
Bangkok-based traders said Thailand was close to clinching a deal
to buy 25,000 tons of soymeal and 15,000 tons of soybeans from
the U.S. for October shipment.
Activity in the rest of Southeast Asia remained subdued.
Malaysia, which recently bought 25,000 tons of Argentine
wheat, was also said to have purchased another batch of new crop
corn and wheat for April/May delivery, one commodity house trader
in Singapore said.
Another dealer said the Malaysians bought about 20,000 tons,
but there were no details on prices.
"There's bits and pieces of some reasonable demand coming in
here," a trader said.
Most buyers around the region were also keen to make purchases
of Argentine corn for the April-June period. Argentine corn is
currently priced about $20 a ton below U.S. corn.
U.S. corn was indicated at around $160-$162 a ton C&F
Southeast Asia for November/December shipment on a Panamax
vessel, they said.
One trader said there may also be some interest for small lots
of 3,000 to 5,000 tons of corn from Burma and Vietnam in the next
few months.
Regional traders said they did not expect a report that South
Africa may be facing a shortage of up to 700,000 tons of yellow
maize would affect corn shipments to Southeast Asia.
"I'm very surprised at the report. They just held an export
tender yesterday," one leading trader said, adding that he
expected the South Africans to proceed on their export
commitments to the Middle East and Indonesia.
"I believe it is more likely they (South Africa) will import
200,000 tons of corn and that will have only a slight impact in
the market," another dealer said.
One analyst said many buyers in the region were also waiting
for the U.S. corn crop harvest to get into full swing in about
15-20 days time before finalizing their buying orders.
"There's this gap to bridge before we get to the harvest.
There are also questions over whether China will export some corn
next year which is overhanging the market," he said.
Another factor the trade is watching is the threat by the
United States to re-introduce grain export subsidies following
the European Union's (EU) recent move to bring them back.
The EU last week cleared the way for traders to seek export
subsidies for wheat exports by canceling an export tax mechanism
in place from last December.
"There's already been an uproar about that. It seems
ridiculous for the EU to do that," an analyst said.
Dealers said U.S. subsidies would benefit countries around the
region and may boost sales of U.S. wheat.
John Howard of U.S. Wheat Associates said the marketing group
may be forced to ask Washington to revive export subsidies
suspended in July 1995.
"We don't want to do it. We love public tenders. We love to go
head-to-head," he said. "It (export subsidies) would be a very
effective tool to combat unfair trade practices or (EU)
subsidies."