Chinese buyers bought Ukrainian corn last week - traders

HAMBURG/KYIV, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Chinese buyers made substantial purchases of Ukrainian-origin animal feed corn late last week, European traders said on Monday.

The volumes bought were unclear, with estimates ranging between 300,000 to 700,000 tonnes. One Ukrainian trader said eight to 10 shipments were bought, or at least 500,000 tonnes.

Prices talked of were between $330 to $335 a tonne c&f mostly for January/March 2022 shipment, although some traders put the range at between $325 to $330 a tonne c&f.

Corn prices in China have been pushed to multi-month highs despite the advancing harvest after wet weather slowed crop collection just as record energy prices pushed up grain drying and logistics costs, analysts and traders said last week.

China still has a corn requirement, a trader said. It is strange that China is buying from Ukraine instead of the U.S. where corn prices in C&F terms (including ocean shipping) are lower.

There is talk China does not like the U.S. system of announcing overseas sales to the market, which can immediately push prices up.

IC UAC according to userwalls