China imports of distillers grain up 26% in August: Customs

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BEIJING: China, the world’s top buyer of distillers grains (DDGS), imported 793,524 tonnes in August, up 26 per cent from the same month a year ago, customs data showed.
August’s imports were, however, down 28 per cent from a record monthly 1.1 million tonnes in July.
China imports almost all of the grain, a by-product of corn-based ethanol, from the United States to produce animal feed.
China’s total imports in the first eight months of the year were 3.55 million tonnes, down 9.2 per cent from the same period a year ago.
“Imports will gradually decrease in coming months. Buyers are making losses from imports,” said Zhao Dan, an analyst at an industry portal. “But demand may pick up in the fourth quarter of the year following the recovery of domestic hog breeding.”
Importers are making losses of between 200-500 yuan ($31.4-$78.5) per tonne due to cheap domestic soymeal prices and lower-than-expected demand, said Zhao.
High stocks may curb the country’s imports during 2015/16, Wang Lin, managing director with COFCO Futures Co. Ltd, told a conference last week.
DDGS stocks at major Chinese ports were as high as 1.22 million tonnes by the end of last week, a rise of 12.4 per cent from the previous week, according to data compiled by an industry portal.
Stocks at the largest port of Qingdao stood at about 600,000 tonnes, data showed.
Imports of corn and barley in August also eased from a record high in July as the domestic corn harvest is due next month. Beijing has also cut state support for corn prices by 10 per cent for 2015/16 to try to encourage the use of domestic corn.
Chinese feed mills increased imports of DDGS and barley to replace expensive domestic corn.
China, the world’s second-largest corn consumer, imported 607,582 tonnes of corn in August, a rise of 353 per cent from a year ago, but down from July’s 1.1 million tonnes, customs data showed.
Barley imports in August surged 140 per cent on the year to 778,166 tonnes, but were down from record 1.28 million tonnes in July.