S. Korean Buyers Said to Purchase 275,000 Tons Corn, Soymeal

Buyers in South Korea, the third- biggest corn importer, purchased a total of 275,000 metric tons of corn and soybean meal and plan to import more cargoes as prices plunged after last week’s earthquake in Japan.

The Korea Feed Association bought 220,000 metric tons of corn and soybean meal, said two industry executives who took part in the bidding, asking not to be identified because tender results are confidential. That is the biggest quantity purchased in a single tender by the group since October.

Nonghyup Feed Inc. bought 55,000 tons of soybean meal for July arrival in a separate tender, said two other industry executives. The Major Feedmill Group plans to buy 190,000 tons of corn for delivery by July 15 in the bidding tomorrow, according to a tender notice e-mailed to Bloomberg today.

Corn traded in Chicago tumbled 12 percent this month on speculation that the earthquake, the strongest on record in Japan, will curb grain demand from the world’s biggest buyer. Soybeans and wheat have dropped 4.5 percent and 16 percent, respectively. South Korea is Asia’s second-biggest grain importer after Japan.

Corn buyers in Japan are delaying purchases after the quake and tsunami damaged ports in the nation’s northeast, suspending grain-unloading operations, said Nobuyuki Chino, president of Unipac Grain Ltd. Japan reduced wheat purchases after the disaster, according to the farm ministry.

In today’s bidding, the Korea Feed, South Korea’s biggest grain-buyer, purchased 110,000 tons of corn for arrival in June and July and the same quantity of soybean meal for delivery in July and August. The volume is the biggest bought in a single bidding by the Korean group since it purchased 218,000 tons of corn and soybean meal in an Oct. 5 tender.

(Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-16/s-korean-buyers-said-to-purchase-275-000-tons-corn-soymeal-1-.html)