Hubei province reported that new crop wheat is now being offered in small quantities. In central China, Hubei in the southern area of China’s wheat belt and is typically harvested before the harvest moves north to larger producing areas such as Henan.
The quality of wheat has been listed so far is reported as generally good, with vomitoxin levels within national standards and prices at around 2,900 yuan/ton. Despite this, the demand at smaller regional auctions remains strong for old crop wheat. Hubei had a small auction of 3,200 tons of 2019 wheat which saw 100% of the offered volume purchased at an average price of 3,016 yuan/ton.
The main harvest period for the province is estimated at one week away and flour mills in the region currently have low inventories. While the auction prices for 2019 crop is high, it could be that mills simply needing to buy enough inventory to tide them over until new crop is listed in larger quantities.
Rapeseed prices in the area are down 9% compared to last year and are between 6,000-6,400 yuan/ton. Rapeseed oil prices continue to rise and are now at 14,500 yuan/ton, up another 200 yuan/ton in the past month. Feed demand for rapeseed meal has been weaker and is trending lower as the industry works to shed excess capacity in the hog sector. In contrast, aquaculture demand has remained firm.