Japanese BSE outbreak and stagnant feed import

Lead: Tokyo, November 26 (Reuters) - Japan's second case of mad cow disease is likely to halt imports of corn and soybeans as demand for feed is unclear, traders said But the panic pushed soybean meal imports On Wednesday, the Ministry of Health reported that 5-year-old Holstein cows in northern Hokkaido tested positive for BSE, the cause of which is bovine spongiform encephalopathy This is the second case after the first Holstein BSE found in Chiba on September 10, when it was the first outbreak in Asia This time, people's panic about mad cow disease has been enlarged Because of health concerns, consumers have stopped eating beef "We hope that this week domestic feed processors will be able to buy some corn with a shipping date of January to March." Said a trader at a trading bank "There was little trading last week because of the discovery of a second case of mad cow disease and holidays in the United States and Japan." By the end of last week, Japan had purchased 40% - 50% of the 4 million tons of imported corn needed in the first four months of next year, unchanged from the previous week The cost and freight (CNF) of corn for the first four months of next year in the United States is the same as last week, with 90-91 cents per bushel added to CBOT's March corn price Another trader said Traders said that as of last week, Japan had purchased 30-40% of January's soybeans, almost unchanged from the previous week Japan buys 400000 tons of soybeans a month for food and oil The CNF price of U.S January shipping soybean was flat compared with the previous week, 112-113 cents higher than that of CBOT January futures soybean *Slaughtering plan the Ministry of Agriculture plans to announce the slaughter of more than 5000 cattle fed with meat and bone meal (MBM) late Monday, days after the discovery of the second case of mad cow disease in Japan, a source close to the Ministry said In early October, Japan banned the import of MBM and the use of MBM as feed because it was suspected that the feed was the cause of BSE spread in Japan and other regions Two cows infected with mad cow disease are fed the same feed, according to a government survey They were born earlier this year before the announcement of a ban on the import of cattle breeding products from Europe The ban on imports from the UK was enacted in 1996 Since the first case of mad cow disease was found at a farm near Chiba, Tokyo, in September, the Ministry of health has begun testing all beef that has been slaughtered for supply to the market The Ministry of agriculture's slaughtering program means that for the first time, Japan will unconditionally slaughter cattle for market consumption All cattle will be tested for BSE and then incinerated There are 4.5 million cows in Japan After the ban in October, Japanese feed importers increased soybean meal imports as domestic mills were reluctant to increase soybean meal production due to a large backlog of soybean oil stocks Traders said "So far, Japan has imported more soybean meal from China," said one soybean meal trader Last year, Japan consumed 400000 tons of MBM, of which 184000 tons were imported Traders said that in recent years, Japan has imported 700000-800000 tons of soybean meal annually, and its soybean meal import is expected to increase by more than 1 million tons annually.