Another corn purchase by South Korea's largest feedmaker Nonghyup Feed Inc (NOFI) on Thursday brought a surge of Korean corn buying in the past week to just over 1 million tonnes, traders said. NOFI purchased around 137,000 tonnes of corn to be sourced from optional origins in an international tender that closed on Thursday, while South Korea's Feed Leaders Committee bought about 65,000 tonnes in a separate deal.
Falling corn prices have generated a wave of purchasing by South Korean importers in the last week. Deals totalling 330,000 tonnes were reported on Tuesday, while Korean importers late last week also bought 522,000 tonnes.
"Corn prices are traditionally very volatile in the current time of the year, when weather changes can impact the US crop. It looks like importers are using the current low price level to get some supply cover bought," one trader said. Chicago corn futures hit a two-month low on Wednesday as favourable weather in the US Midwest grain belt improved crop prospects and pushed the July and December contracts below technical support levels.
NOFI's corn on Thursday was bought in two consignments both at $215.53 a tonne c&f plus a surcharge of $1.25 a tonne for additional port unloading. The first consignment of 69,000 tonnes was bought from Cargill for arrival around October 20, traders said. Shipment was sought between September 17 and October 6 if sourced from the US Pacific Northwest coast, between August 28 and September 16 if from the US Gulf or Eastern Europe, between August 23 and September 11 if from South America or between August 28 and September 11 if from South Africa.
The second consignment of 68,000 tonnes was bought from CHS for arrival in South Korea around October 30. Shipment was sought between September 27 and October 16 if sourced from the US Pacific Northwest coast, between September 7 and September 26 if sourced from the US Gulf or Eastern Europe, between September 2 and September 21 if from South America or between September 7 and September 26 if from South Africa.