South Korean buyers continue shopping for grain

South Korean private buyers continued their purchases Thursday as Feed Leaders Committee (FLC) picked up 65,000 mt of feed wheat in a private deal, while the Korea Feed Association (KFA) announced a fresh corn tender following Wednesday's purchases, trade sources told Agricensus.

FLC has booked 65,000 mt of optional origin feed wheat for May 10 arrival into Incheon and Kunsan paying $275.90/mt CFR.

The purchase also included a $1.50/mt fee for a second port of discharge.

FLC had invited worldwide origins to participate in the tender, with loading from Argentina, Indonesia, Denmark, Russian and Ukrainian ports accepted.

KFA has also announced a new tender for 50,000-69,000 mt of optional origin corn in two positions for arrival by March 25 and April 25.

For the first arrival date the loading window is expected as follows:

-       February 20-March 10 if sourced from US Pacific ports

-       January 31-February 29 if from US Gulf ports

-       January 26-February 14 supplied from South America

-       February 5-24 if corn will be delivered from South Africa

For the second shipment window the loading window is expected as follows:

-       March 22-April 10 if from US Pacific ports

-       March 2-21 if from US Gulf ports

-       February 26 – March 16 supplied from South America

-       March 7-26 if corn will be delivered from South Africa

The tender is set to close later on Thursday.

On Wednesday, a rival Korean importer, Nonghyup Feed Inc (NOFI) picked up corn and wheat for March and May arrival. 

NOFI booked between 55,000-68,000 mt of corn for arrival around March 30 at $266/mt CFR South Korea for 30,000 mt of the volume, while the remaining amount was priced at 172.90 c/bu over the May CME corn futures contract, which equated to around $265.70/mt CFR South Korea based on the overnight futures settlement, plus a $1.50/mt additional port discharge cost.

NOFI also picked up 65,000 mt of optional-origin feed wheat for May 10 arrival at $276/mt CFR South Korea plus a $1.50/mt additional port discharge cost.

For more information on South Korean buying, please refer to our Tender Dashboard.