US DDGS prices fall after China rejects shipments

1/6/2014 9:05:36 AM
(www.efeedlink.com) After China rejected two shipments of dried distillers grains (DDGS) last week due to the presence of an unapproved strain of genetically modified grain, prices for the by-product of corn-based ethanol fell by US $ 30/tonne on US export markets.

During the first quarter of 2014, bids for shipments fell to US$190/tonne in the Mississippi River market that feeds exports terminals along the Gulf Coast, traders said.

When Chineses news agency reported that two cargoes of DDGs from the US were rejected from Shanghai, prices went down from US$220 last week and from US$275 earlier this month.

The rejection of 2,000 tonnes of DDGs represents only a small portion of China’s expected imports. During the last marketing season, the country imported a record 2.8 million tonnes, according to USDA data.

Moreover, some US exporters were said to be halting shipmenets of DDGs to China, leading to a bigger domestic supply that is likely to weigh on other high-protein animal feeds such as soymeal.

China has rejected 545,000 tonnes of US corn during the past two months after cargoes were found to contain Syngenta AG’s MIR 162 corn, a genetically modified variety that has been awaiting China’s approval for more than two years.