Nogger's Blog

12/10/11 -- China took advantage of the recent break in prices to buy 1.5 MMT of corn and 700,000 MT of soybeans on the international stage, according to media reports this morning.

State-run grain buyer Sinograin also bought 100,000 MT of soyoil, according to the same reports.

It's unconfirmed if any of this came was of US origin, although it's likely that at least some of the beans and corn were. Argentina is probably the likely favourite supplier of the oil. Some reports on Twitter suggest that "at least 900,000 MT" of the corn was of US origin.

Everybody always seems to get excited when China are in the market, particularly for corn, although before we get too carried away 1.5 MMT is only 1.6% of world trade in corn and less than 0.2% of world production - an amount similar to that imported by Peru.