Miller Magazine Issue: 132 December 2020

85 MARKET ANALYSIS MILLER / december 2020 Grain rally on hold The upward rally in the grain market has been stalled. However, spot grain prices are at their highest level since 2014, when the price was moving down due to overproduction. The market is trying to take a "breather". Elena Faige Neroba Business Development Manager Maxigrain Ukrainian corn remains quite expensive for the Chinese market. Restraining sales by Ukrainian farmers as a result of a sharp decline in production (as of the current date, 26.8 MMT or 94% of the area has been harvested according to a survey of producers) led to a protracted price rally. As of November 27, in the ports of Ukraine, 21 vessels with a total tonnage above 1.1MMT stay anchored waiting for loading. Ukraine exported 6% less new cropped corn YoY, but last month was 3,1MMT which is higher than November 2019 and 1,7 times more than October 2020. The key destination was China – 1,3MMT. Despite the fact that the import quota for corn in China is 7.2MMT, there is information on the market that COFCO has signed contracts for the supply of more than 10MMT. Probab- ly China will increase the quota after the New Year holidays. Rainfall begins in Latin America, improving crop prospects. In line with AgRural's expectations, Brazil's corn planting re- ached 94% as of November 26, up from 91% a year earlier. Some damage in the Rio Grande do Sul state is irreversible