In the near future, brokers expect active demand for Ukrainian corn from China.
The representative of the Prospex-Agro brokerage company Vladyslava Zhegulska told about this in the interview “Accreditation and specification for trade with China – why it is impossible to sell grain without them” , writes Kurkul.com .
“In the near future, we expect an active demand for corn, around the new calendar year, when there will be fresh quotas. But we’re already seeing demand and Chinese buyers coming into the market, worried about how realistic shipping from our deepwater ports will be. I think that they will increase their demand for the shipment of goods by panamax and handysizes from our deep-sea ports. And we will see an increase in interest,” the broker noted.
She also explained that China has certain internal limits on when and how much products they can import. In particular, they have quotas for the import of corn, usually this happens on the eve of a new calendar year, at which time they will have the highest demand for corn.
“Now, in November, few people have this quota left, so the demand for corn is not so active,” added Vladyslava Zhegulska.
The broker also said that this year China ranks third among importers of Ukrainian agricultural products.
“This is a clear third position after Poland and Romania. But we understand that Poland and Romania are often transshipment points, and China is precisely the final, ultimate buyer,” said Vladyslava Zhegulska.
During the hostilities in our country, the volume of trade with the PRC decreased, but this is not because China is less willing to trade with us, but because of problems with logistics.
“Usually, the PRC buys goods in panamax and handimax, from 30,000 tons. Such volumes can be shipped only from deep-sea ports. Previously, several panamaxes per week went to China from there. Now we cannot trade so actively. And we only have to sometimes send large ships from the ports, when the situation in the country allows it. We also continue to ship products to China in containers, but these volumes have also fallen — logistics have become more complicated due to the inability to use our container terminals at full capacity,” the broker concluded.
© Yulia Nemtseva , Kurkul.com, 2023