South Korean grain importers are likely to be among the most active buyers in the region this week as they seek corn for August arrival if offers meet their target prices, traders said on Monday.
South Korean buyers usually cover their corn requirements two or three months in advance.
Feed makers in South Korea want to buy corn for late July or August arrival at $135 per tonne on a cost-and-freight basis, traders said.
At present, premiums for corn delivered from the US Gulf to South Korea are less than 140 cents a metric ton over the May Chicago Board of Trade contract.
"Feed makers are likely to seek US or South American corn but it all depends on the CBOT market," a trader at a foreign supplier in Seoul said.
Last week, corn futures at the Chicago Board of Trade fell 3.4 percent on profit-taking after gains on strong corn demand. Elsewhere, South Korea's CJ Corp bought 55,000 tonnes of Brazilian soybean from Marubeni, traders said on Monday.
They said the purchase was made late on Thursday with arrival set for August 10.
For soyameal, feed makers are likely to be quiet this week after covering much of their needs until October. In the milling wheat markets, South Korean flour millers will start to issue tenders in the middle of the week, after checking prices.
Japanese oilseed importers have started to buy soybeans for June, and are expected to continue to seek some supplies from Brazil despite relatively high prices.
He said this was an unusual situation as Brazilian crops were usually cheaper than those from the United States.
Japan often buys Brazilian soybeans after new crops there become available from March, attracted to the generally higher protein and oil content of the crop, which makes them better suited to meet the needs of Japanese feed makers.
The trader said some buyers were slightly unhappy with the quality of this year's Brazilian crops, but that some buying was likely as a means also of diversifying supply sources.
"Crops from the United States are likely to be flat, whereas those from South America ... are likely to grow in the future, which means you cannot ignore them," he said.
Japanese corn buyers are likely to be quiet this week after having made some purchases for the July-September quarter early last week before the start of the Golden Week holiday from last Wednesday through to Friday.
One key trader said he believes that Japan may have purchased about 750,000 tonnes of corn for the quarter.
Japanese feed makers typically require about 3 million tonnes of corn every quarter. Taiwan grain importers will probably lie low this week, with only one buying group seen opening a tender for US corn and soybeans, while others hold off on buying due to high prices and slower demand, traders said.
The Taiwan Sugar Corp is expected to hold a tender later in the week for a mixed shipment of corn and soybeans, a trader said, although shipment dates are yet to be determined.
The Kaohsiung division of the Breakfast Soybean Procurement Association, which hasn't tendered since March, will likely hold off for the near-term, with buyers waiting for prices to soften.
"Last time we tendered we got cargoes, so members can afford to wait a little," a group official said by phone. The Taiwan Flour Mills Association will hold a meeting this week to discuss their future purchasing plans, but no tender is expected in the near term, a group official said.
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