Corn: Domestic demand on a persistently ascending trend

March 9, 2018 at 12:10 PM , Starry Night Ltd.
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SOFIA. Prices resist sudden slips, but foreign and domestic demands lack the pull-up power. Domestically, corn has become a desired substitute of feeding wheat.

BULGARIA. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, average purchasing prices for corn during the month of February 2018 stood at 0.140 EUR/kg EXW Bulgaria while those, a year ago, traded at 0.152 EUR/kg EXW Bulgaria. However, so far in the season, average purchasing prices have risen from their lowest levels at 0.131 EUR/kg EXW a few months ago while subsequently have managed to maintain a slow, but stubbornly resistant-to-sudden falls upward trend.

Corn: prevailing domestic developments and trends

An upbeat trend has been building-up since the beginning of the current marketing season and its vibrancy sends a clear signal that its persistency will continue till well in the marketing year. Locally, corn is mainly used by the livestock sector, as by the end of last week, quantities consumed reached 405,000 mt or by 20% more than those used last year by that time. Whenever the market forces on the wheat export fronts have been strong -- buoyant as they have been since the beginning of the marketing year -- local mills turn to corn as a substitute. The food & industrial sector gets the second largest share, as by the 2nd of March 2018, local consumption reached 250,000 mt or by 20% more than what the sector had demanded by that time last year. The built-up steam is expected to keep the momentum of domestic demand strong!

       Harvest 2017-18

(01.09.2017 - 02.03.2018)

          units in MT

Beginning availability

580,000

Aggregate output

2,315,387

Imports

10,460

Domestic consumption

655,000

   food & industrial usage

250,000

   Feed

405,000

Exports to the world

772,522

   to EU markets

   655,857

   to rest of the world

   116,665

Source: Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture

On an annual basis, imports represent a small share of total availability as a substantial part of shipped-in volumes go to the alcohol production sector.

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