China's private feed mills and its state stockpiler likely re-entered the market for U.S. corn this week, booking cargoes to take advantage of a recent price decline, traders and analysts say. China Grain Reserves Corp., the state stockpiler also known as Sinograin, is likely among the buyers, a Shanghai-based trader says. "The amount and price are still unknown, but the size might be relatively small," she says. The price of U.S. corn to southern China ports is around CNY2,350/ton, on a CIF and tax basis, around 6% lower than the domestic price, an analyst with a state-owned futures company says. CBOT July corn futures settled up 3% Thursday at $6.12/bushel. The contract has declined 6% since the beginning of April. (zhoudong.shangguan@dowjones.com)

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 20, 2012 02:33 ET (06:33 GMT)