South Korea's NH Feed buys 50,000-60,000 tonnes of soybean meal from COFCO at $480.19 C&F

NH Feed books 50,000-60,000 tonnes in 29 September tender

NH Feed, a subsidiary of NOFI, one of South Korea's leading animal feed producers, purchased 50,000-60,000 tonnes of soybean meal in an international tender held on 29 September, APK-Inform reported, citing market operators. The business was awarded to COFCO at $480.19 per tonne on a C&F basis, with a further $1.50 per tonne payable for discharge at the destination port.

The terms allow the meal to be supplied from the United States, China or South America, and the contracted volume must reach the importer by 1 January 2027, according to APK-Inform. The report did not state which origin COFCO intends to ship, nor how the cargo will be split across shipment periods.

The numbers behind the award

For anyone tracking Asian protein meal demand, the result delivers three usable reference points:

• a landed-cost benchmark of roughly $481.69 per tonne once the $1.50 discharge charge is added to the $480.19 C&F price, before inland distribution in Korea;
• an origin basket covering three supply regions instead of a single fixed origin, which keeps the sourcing decision with the seller;
• a delivery window extending to the beginning of 2027, which points to forward coverage rather than prompt, hand-to-mouth buying.

COFCO wins with flexible origin

COFCO, the Chinese state-owned agricultural trading group, took the business against a specification that lists the United States, China and South America, the three regions that account for the bulk of world soybean crushing and meal trade. Origin optionality of that breadth transfers value to the seller, which can decide closer to shipment whether Gulf, South American or Chinese-origin meal is the cheaper route once freight and crush economics are compared.

The structure also means the award says less about which exporting country will ultimately supply the volume than a fixed-origin tender would. Producers and exporters in the United States and South America gain a price signal from the $480.19 level, but not a confirmed trade flow.

The pricing basis matters for comparison purposes. C&F terms bundle freight into the quoted number, so the $480.19 figure moves with ocean rates as well as with meal values, while the separate charge of $1.50 per tonne for discharge keeps the handling cost visible outside the main price. Buyers comparing this award with FOB quotations in the US Gulf or at Brazilian ports need to strip out freight before drawing conclusions about relative origin competitiveness.

South Korea's import-dependent feed chain

South Korean feed manufacturers cover their protein requirements through imports and buy in recurring international tenders, which makes each award a visible marker of the price millers are prepared to pay. NOFI is described by APK-Inform as a leading domestic producer of animal feed, with NH Feed acting as the purchasing arm in this tender.

The scale of the purchase, 50,000-60,000 tonnes in a single tender, is consistent with bulk vessel economics rather than container-sized trade, placing the business in the mainstream of deep-sea soybean meal movement into Northeast Asia. Feed millers in the region typically layer purchases across several tenders, so a single award of this size does not reveal total annual requirements; it does, however, fix a price for a defined slice of them.

With delivery running to 1 January 2027, the contract covers requirements well beyond the current quarter. Subsequent NOFI tenders will indicate whether the $480.19 C&F level marks a ceiling for Korean buying or a base from which offers move, and whether origin flexibility of this kind becomes a standard feature of Korean soybean meal purchases.