A rare Brazilian soyameal cargo arrived in southern China after it was rejected by a South Korean buyer due to a problems with quality, traders said on Monday.
They said Cargill had diverted the cargo of 55,000 tonnes to China after the Korea Feed Association (KFA) turned it down in February due to low protein solubility.
The cargo arrived in Guangdong province at the end of April and so far 20,000 tonnes had been sold to Chinese feed mills, said one official at Chiwan port.
"The price was quite good," said the official, adding they were still unloading the soyameal.
The traders said the Brazilian soyameal was offered at prices below 1,800 yuan per tonne ($225), hurting cash soyameal prices in southern China, which were 300 yuan per tonne higher, especially as large quantities of Indian soyameal were also arriving in the country.
Traders estimated China had imported about 700,000 tonnes of soyameal so far this year, despite a huge overcapacity in the crushing industry.
They estimated China had bought more than 500,000 tonnes of Indian soyameal in the 2005/2006 marketing year, with April arrivals possibly totalling 70,000 to 80,000 tonnes.
Customs data showed Chinese March soyameal imports were 115,682 tonnes, which pushed up the first-quarter total to 293,405 tonnes, up 2,681 percent year-on-year.