HAMBURG: South Korea’s Major Feedmill Group (MFG) has issued an international tender to purchase up to 140,000 tonnes of animal feed corn, European traders said on Thursday.

The deadline for submission of price offers in the tender is Friday, Jan. 14. The corn is sought in two consignments of 55,000 to 70,000 tonnes with the seller free to decide the volume offered in this range, they said.

The first consignment is for arrival in South Korea around April 23. Shipment was sought from March 10-April 8 if sourced from the US Pacific Northwest coast, Feb. 18-March 19 if sourced from the US Gulf or Black Sea region/east Europe, Feb. 13-March 14 if from South America or Feb. 23-March 24 if from South Africa.

The second consignment is for arrival in South Korea around May 3. Shipment was sought from March 20-April 18 if sourced from the US Pacific Northwest coast, Feb. 28-March 29 if sourced from the US Gulf or Black Sea region/east Europe, Feb. 23-March 24 if from South America or March 5-April 3 if from South Africa.

The MFG was asking for separate prices offers for corn sourced only from South America or South Africa. The tender continues brisk demand from Asian importers for corn in early January after prices fell from their recent peak in December, with Korean buyers NOFI and KFA together purchasing almost 260,000 tonnes on Tuesday.

US corn futures fell on Wednesday after US Department of Agriculture (USDA) crop reports, including an estimate that the most recent US corn harvest was the second-biggest ever.