By Naveen Thukral
Reuters
SINGAPORE - Asia's grain and oilseed buyers are set to face shipping delays of at least one month after Hurricane Ida damaged key export terminals around the U.S. Gulf Coast, two traders and one miller said. The slowdown in supplies is likely to stoke food inflation fears for price-sensitive consumers in Asia, where many importers have already drawn down crop inventories after having been forced to curb purchases amid volatile crop prices and COVID-related supply disruptions this year.
Importers led by top soybean buyer China, major corn buyer Japan and number two wheat importer Indonesia are likely to take a hit after top exporters such as Cargill suffered damage to grain-loading facilities.