KIEV: Increased competition for Egypt’s 8.8 million mt corn import market has seen the country pick up the second substantial corn export sale from the US, while government data suggest Ukraine’s influence in the market is waning. The USDA unveiled the second substantial private corn export sale Friday, with 170,000 mt booked to Egypt to follow hard on the heels of 115,000 mt announced on January 26. Egypt is still among the big buyers of Ukraine corn, but for now there are only two available corn origins at normal prices Ukraine and USA,” one Ukraine-based market source said. We have less corn this season, and very good demand, so our prices are firming – if you count freight and FOB prices, US corn can be even cheaper [than Ukrainian]. There is sense in buying US corn,” the source said. The move comes despite Egypt expressing reservations about the quality of US corn, with the USDA noting that ‘Egyptian importers are dissatisfied with US corn’s quality, mainly the high percentage of broken kernels,’ in a report dated September 2017. The USDA also estimated Egyptian corn imports at 8.8 million mt, based on imports from October 2016 to July 31 2017 of 6.69 million mt. Of that, Ukraine formed the lion’s share of the supply through that period, with 3.34 million mt, followed by Argentina (2.2 million mt) and Brazil (475,000 mt) with the US providing 219,000 mt over the course of that ten month period. The US has surpassed that volume in the space of a week, with total private sales now standing at 285,000 mt between January 26 and February 2.
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