According to market operators, importers from China have contracted large volumes of Ukrainian corn over the past twenty months, Reuters reports.
At present, traders are not ready to specify the exact volume of the purchased grain, but some of them, mainly European, estimate the total volume of purchases from 500 thsd tonnes to 1 mln tonnes for delivery in October-December this year. Traders from Singapore estimate the volume of grain purchases at 10-12 Panamax cargoes (1 cargo can carry from 60 thsd tonnes) for delivery in November-December this year.
An unnamed source in the Ukrainian government also confirmed to the agency the information about the sale of corn to China.
Ukrainian corn is the cheapest on the market
The strong demand from Chinese importers is due to the fact that Ukrainian corn is currently among the cheapest on the market. According to Ukrainian farmers, grain prices have fallen by 40% due to the impossibility of free exports. At the same time, the previously established maritime “grain corridor” and the operation of river ports on the Danube cannot compensate for the existing export routes of Odesa and Mykolaiv ports.