Taiwan and Japan are likely to buy corn in coming weeks due to a seasonal pick-up in demand in the lead up to a holiday, but South Korea will stay on the sidelines in anticipation of further price falls, traders said on Monday.
Japanese feed makers were expected to buy a substantial volume of corn to cover part of their needs for the October-December period before Japan's traditional "Bon" holidays beginning in mid-August, traders said.
Japan has so far bought about 300,000 tonnes, or 10 percent, of fourth-quarter requirements, with another 600,000-700,000 tonnes to be sought this week or next, said a trader. US corn C&F premiums for the fourth quarter were offered on Monday to Japanese end-users at 188-191 cents over the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) December contract.
In Taiwan, the Great Wall Feed Group was considering a 56,000 tonne corn shipment for October as feed makers looked toward increased demand in the cooler autumn and winter months ahead.
"The likelihood of us tendering this week is very high as we seek shipments for October ahead of higher demand, but the details are yet to be finalised," said an official from Great Wall.
The Kaohsiung division of Taiwan's Breakfast Soyabean Procurement Association was pondering a soya shipment and would meet this week to determine the quantity and origin, said a group official.
There was market talk of Taiwan accepting delivery of a 58,000 tonne shipment of Brazilian soyabeans that had been bound for China but which the Chinese may have rejected due to contamination by carboxyl fungicide, traders said.
China blacklisted more than 20 Brazilian exporters of soyabeans and suspended shipments of Brazilian soya between May and June due to the contamination.
One trader said Chorine Pokphand Enterprise (Taiwan) Co Ltd, a unit of Thailand's CP Group, was interested in taking the cargo but a company executive said Charoen had not bought the shipment.
"We don't know why the shipment may have been rejected by China. All we know is that there is a cargo of Brazilian soyabean afloat and no deal has yet been made to buy it," said the Chorine executive, who declined to be identified by name.
Traders in China could not confirm the diversion. In Japan's oilseed market, buyers had sought new-crop US soya for October shipment, after many skipped August-September shipments due to a slow domestic demand and high premiums for old-crop US soyabeans.
In other regular tendering, the Taiwan flourmill's Association will seek 43,000 tonnes of US wheat on Tuesday for September shipment.
Many South Korean importers have taken a wait-and-see attitude, expecting benchmark Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) grain futures to drop further, said Seoul traders. CBOT corn, soyabeans and wheat futures tumbled on Friday on favourable weather conditions and expectations of a good harvest.
"We think the prices have almost reached the bottom although we cannot rule out any possibility of further falls," a South Korean flour miller said.
Daehan Flour Mills Co Ltd, however, was considering buying US No.1 wheat for shipment in October this week but the company had not yet fixed the tender schedules, traders said.
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