Ukrainian corn will face competition from US corn moving into 2019 as outlets for US corn complete their purchases into Q2 2019.
Demand for prompt positions has been slow as many destinations are looking to complete transactions into next year.
Destinations in Asia, such as South Korea, are well stocked for the rest of 2018 and have been booking cargoes for delivery in April in recent tenders.
Japan, on the other hand, has been focusing on shipments for Q1 2019 but has made most of its necessary purchases, sources said.
With little competition at the moment, sources said that, if necessary, there was room for US corn prices to move lower.
Arguably, growing levels of snow in the US and the closure of rivers there to transport the corn could be supportive factors.
However, this has also led for there to be a big push to move as much corn out of farm as possible before rivers transport terminals close.
Given that most of the harvest has already been completed in the US, any upside effect will likely be minimal.
A Ukrainian corn Handysize FOB Panamax port cargo was assessed at $167.50/mt Tuesday, its highest point since mid-October.
with weak demand and growing supply, many sources were expecting prices to face pressure in coming weeks.
Looking at loadings in March or April, values were around $10/mt higher, in line with or higher than US Pacific Northwest FOB values.
