Algeria's ONAB again turns to Argentina's corn for buy tender

Algeria's state grain buyer has returned to the market with a tender for another 40,000 mt of corn, but is again only looking for Argentinian origin, market sources told Agricensus Wednesday.

The Office National des Aliments du Betail (ONAB) announced a tender late on Tuesday for 40,000 mt corn for shipment in the first half of May, but again narrowed down the list of possible originations to only one supplier.

The tender is expected to close later today, according to market sources.

Since last week, prices for Argentinian Up River corn have dropped by at least $4/mt to yesterday's assessed level at $168.25/mt FOB for May loading as the panic over the possible logistic issues in the country amid the covid-19 spreading calmed down.

"Argentina's corn is appreciated, they can't survive with the US and Ukrainian corn only," one trader said of Algeria's interest in Argentine corn, adding that for May loading the origin remains relatively expensive versus other potential origins.

ONAB had previously tendered for Argentinian corn exclusively in mid-March, but was forced to pass on the offers as they were all deemed to be too high, forcing a rethink as the state buyer widened the origin options. 

At its last tender, which closed on April 1, ONAB finally bought 40,000 mt of US corn for April 20-May 5 shipment paying around $192-193/mt CFR.

More details for Algeria's previous purchases can be found on the Agricensus Tender Dashboard.