Vietnamese feed makers turn to wheat over corn in seasonal move

As global corn prices remain firm, animal feed producers and grain importers from Vietnam are booking wheat volumes to substitute corn in their feed formula for shipments in the second quarter of 2023, showing a seasonal switch in raw material sourcing.

Trade sources reported several deals for Australian ASW wheat at around $335/mt and $330/mt CFR Vietnam for May and June shipments, despite corn being offered just slightly higher, the importers give preference to wheat for its nutritional value.

“The corn market in Vietnam is very quiet due to high prices; many feed millers are switching to replace corn with wheat. When the wheat price is cheaper or equal to the corn price but has more nutritional value. That's why feed millers use more wheat than their usual demand and the market is quite active currently, especially for ASW1 as it is the cheapest,” a Vietnam-based trader told Agricensus.

In the meantime, offers for South American and US-origin corn were seen at $343/mt CFR Southern Vietnam for March-May shipment, $329/mt CFR for June and $317.50/mt CFR for July.

Asian buyers are slowly switching from the hand-to-mouth buying pattern to securing their volumes slightly more in advance, with both Vietnamese and South Korean importers now looking at June-July loading dates.

In the past few weeks, South Korean importers picked up 258,000 mt of optional origin feed wheat for loading windows between May and July at price levels in the range of $334.50-343.85/mt CFR, while two of them have also booked a total of 243,500 mt of corn for spot dates at $336.60-337.99/mt CFR.