ODESA: Purchase prices for corn in Ukraine continue to fall, although purchases from China have stopped declining.
However, market participants predict that falling prices for oil, vegetable oils, and soybeans will increase pressure on prices in the nearest future.
This week, corn prices increased by 50 UAH/t to 7900-8000 UAH/t. However, it happened because of local currency weakening. Dollar prices remained at the 255-260 $/t in ports.
Lousy weather conditions sealed a delay in the arrival of vessels, so the reception of corn stopped in many ports. As a result, the queues for unloading cars increased to 3-5 days, and traders reduced the volume of purchases. Many companies are reducing their trading activity ahead of the holidays, as they have enough grain to close the following contracts.
As of December 20, Ukraine exported 8.5 million tons of corn. This is only 10% higher than last year’s rates. However, to reach the forecasted 32.5 million tons for this season, it is necessary to ship 900 thousand tons of corn every week.