Focus: The Trading Volume of Temporarily-Stored Corn Auctioned in 2019 Topped 20 Million MT, 44 Million MT Less than Last Year

. On August 15th, the 13th round of auction of temporarily-stored corn finished, of which corn auction volume was 3.96 million MT, and the trading volume was 0.52 million MT, and the trading rate was 13.09%. Accumulative auction volume was 51.64 million MT, and the trading volume was 20.07 million MT, and the accumulative trading rate was 38.87%. Compared to the trading volume of 64.37 million MT in the same period of last year, corn trading volume was 44 million MT less than last year. Main reasons for a decrease in trading volume are as follows:   
 
(1) The auction time of temporarily-stored corn this year was later than last year. This year, the auction of temporarily-stored corn started from May 25th, however, in 2018, it began from April 13th, and the trading volume at the beginning of auction maintained at a high level, and the trading volume in the first seven weeks was upward of 30 million MT. Namely, before the starting of auctioning temporarily-stroed corn this year, there had been 30 million MT of corn that were dealt.
 
(2) The speed of warehousing-out of temporarily-stored corn this year was quicker than last year. The trading volume of temporarily-stored corn was relatively high last year, but the speed of warehousing-out was slow. After new-season corn availability on the market, there still had been several thousands of corn that hadn’t been warehoused out. However, this year, corn was warehoused out smoothly, which meets the demand from terminal market better.
 
(3) This year, corn stocks in the link of distribution were less than last year. Due to a weak demand for corn, the distributors are unwilling to stock up the goods and sell immediately after buying. Compared to that in the same period of last year, corn stocks in the link of distribution decreased by 10 million MT.  
 
(4) The overall demand for corn from the terminal was weak. Due to African swine fever, hog stocks reduced, and livestock farming margins fluctuated greatly, resulting in a weak demand for corn; further processors fell into loss, and the overall operating rate was also less than that in the same period of last year.