S'pore-based grain traders await Indonesian tenders

S'pore-based grain traders await Indonesian tenders

SINGAPORE (Reuters): It may take a long time for cash-trapped Indonesia to issue tenders for soybean or wheat imports, traders said yesterday.

And as corn demand from Malaysia continued to decrease and unstable weather triggered port loading problems in India, traders said they saw no end to the market gloom.

"Only basic supplies such as rice and some meal powder go into Indonesia at this moment, but they are all in small amounts," said one Singapore-based trader with a European trading house.

"The market is very bad and is getting worse. We now only work half day," joked another trader.

Most of the rice came from Thailand, despite rising prices there, traders said.

"Traditionally people prefer Thai rice to Vietnamese rice. I think Thai rice still has a better chance than Vietnamese rice even it's more expensive," one trader said.

Some Vietnamese suppliers would default as prices fluctuate, making trading houses hesitant to strike deals with Vietnam, the trader said.

There was talk that small lots of wheat entered Indonesia from Australia and South America, but details were unknown.

"I don't think under the current situation Indonesia can import anything substantial directly, so some soybeans came through Malaysia," said one trader.

"They need everything, but they don't have the money for anything," he said.

Traders said they were not optimistic about imports for Indonesia, and were hard to press to estimate when Indonesia's state commodity regulator, Bulog, would issue tenders.

"If they do tender, big players will still take part, but they will be taking a risk as the financial situation there is still very bad," the trader said.

"Ideally we want to do it cash against contract. Only when we see the money, we can sign the contract," said the trader. In Malaysia, corn demand fell in the face of the slumping poultry industry.

Some traders saw signs of decreasing corn exports from China, after some Chinese corn went to South Korea and the Philippines in the past few weeks.

"It looks like China is now encouraging more consumption of its own corn instead of exporting it," said the trader with the European firm.

"That means both corn selling and buying stop," he said. China has just bought 5,000 tonnes of Indian rapeseed, said one trader, but overall trade with India was slow due to the unstable weather there.

"Indian supplies, say for soymeal, are definitely cheaper than other origins, but the weather conditions are so unstable that we can't control the deliveries," he said.

The only minor demand came from Thailand and the Philippines, but only on a hand-to-mouth basis, traders said.