Asia’s corn buyers look to cheap feed wheat as corn prices stall

Relatively high prices for US corn are damping demand for the staple from Asia’s feed sector, with feed wheat proving a viable alternative, market sources said Tuesday.

“The market is dead quiet; the last traded were feed wheat at $219/mt and $222.50/mt,” one Singapore-based source said, with corn offers heard at $223-225/mt.

“Corn offers are too expensive; buyers are waiting for a dip… they are buying for August/September shipment and corn is not competing at such prices,” the source said.

The switch comes after corn has dominated feed buying for much of 2018, with competitively-priced US corn in particular forcing open flows to countries such as Egypt and Vietnam, as well as consolidating in typical demand centres such as South Korea and Japan.

However, domestic logistic issues have seen US basis values firming and capped some of the recent export interest.

While corn flows remain healthy, there has been a slowdown in recent days.