RI buys Indian soymeal, may purchase more

RI buys Indian soymeal, may purchase more

SINGAPORE (Reuter): Indonesian importers have bought about 60,000 to 80,000 tons of soymeal from India and may buy more over the next few weeks, traders said yesterday.

"The Indonesians picked up a lot of soymeal, mainly for October/November shipment," a dealer for a commodity house told Reuters. "They bought about five cargoes and probably picked up more from other trading houses."

"The Indonesians did buy some stuff. There's still a bit of interest in October," another trader said.

The trade was quoting the price of Indian soymeal coming into Southeast Asia at around US$285-$290 a ton C&F for November/December shipment on a Tweendecker.

Dealers said the Indonesians received a discount for their soymeal purchases from the price being quoted by the trade. Indonesian buyers may still pick up about 100,000 tons of soymeal for November/December shipment, but will not step back into the market quickly, they added.

"They may back off for a short while and see how the Indian market reacts to their recent buying," one said.

Malaysia and Thailand are also said to have open positions for meal in the last quarter of the year.

Buyers trying to pick up soymeal for October/November shipment may run into problems, however, because of active buying of Indian soymeal by China and South Korea in the market.

"The Indians will have to move the new crop to the processing plants and the ports so it might be a bit tight in October with the Chinese, Koreans and Indonesians picking up stuff. From mid- November onwards, we should have no problems," a trader said.

One analyst said buyers may also hesitate on expectations that soybean and soymeal prices on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) will fall because of a bumer U.S. crop.

"It's a sizable crop," he said. "Eventually, we'll see lower prices. People can afford to put off buying in beans."

Dealers said there was also word circulating in the market that Malaysia and Indonesia may have each picked up a small cargo of Chinese corn for last quarter delivery. The price was not immediately available.

The stunted corn crop on Java may force Indonesia to import at least 200,000 tons of corn in the last quarter.

"The crop has been hit by the El Nino," a dealer said. "Indonesia is in a position to buy about 200,000 tons for November/December. They've been making inquiries. They need to buy. They have no choice."

An El Nino-linked drought has devastated corn and other crops on Indonesia. The weather anomaly is formed by the presence of an abnormal warm water current off South America which disrupts world weather patterns.

Meteorologists say this episode may turn into the century's worst and surpass the one in 1982/83 which killed about 2,000 people and caused $13 billion in damage.

Aside from Indonesia, dealers said Malaysian importers may also be shopping around for corn for November/December shipment and will probably try to pick up about 100,000 tons.

The only problem would be the currency turmoil plaguing Southeast Asia, where everything from the Indonesian rupiah to the Malaysian ringgit is taking a pounding from waves of selling.

"The currency problem may cause a reduction in the buying programs of some people," a dealer said. "Buyers tend to be very reserved in this kind of a situation."