Taiwan’s MFIG purchasing group bought about 55,000 tonnes of animal feed corn expected to be sourced from South Africa in an international tender that closed on Wednesday, European traders said.
It was believed to have been sold by trading house Viterra.
The corn was purchased at an estimated premium of 254.82 U.S. cents a bushel c&f over the Chicago December 2022 corn contract CZ2, they said.
The tender had sought shipment from South Africa between Oct. 16 and Nov. 4. Offers had been sought for corn sourced from the United States, Brazil, Argentina and South Africa.
No offers of U.S. corn were reported and the winner was the only offer reported from South Africa.
Six offers of Brazilian corn each of 65,000 tonnes were reported, with the lowest at 259.50 cents over the Chicago December contract from trading house Amaggi.
Two offers of Argentine corn each of 65,000 tonnes were reported, one at 252.96 cents over Chicago December from trading house Pan Ocean and so cheaper than the South African corn.
But Argentine corn was not favoured because of quality concerns and the group was seeking premiums from Argentina around 6 cents below other origins, traders said.
Chicago corn futures closed lower on Tuesday as maritime exports from Ukraine resumed, the dollar rallied and U.S. crop condition ratings held steady despite a hot spell last week in the U.S. Midwest.
