Traders and industry officials in China said on Monday there was also talk of default of one Indian soyameal cargo. Indian suppliers had oversold meal this month when they signed sales for more than 200,000 tonnes to China.
"Poultry prices are coming down nation-wide," said a soya trader in northern China. "Based on today's scenario, we don't think we will see more (soya) demand for November.
And for December, they won't be aggressive." The official English-language China Daily newspaper said on Saturday that daily sales at Shanghai's largest poultry wholesale market had dropped nearly 80 percent to about 20,000 from usual as fears over bird flu spread.
Three areas hit by bird flu in the provinces of Hunan, Anhui and Inner Mongolia remained closed, it said on Monday.
With bird flu outbreaks reported at the start of the winter, industry officials said Chinese farmers were reluctant to re-stock their flocks in the run-up to Chinese Lunar New Year celebration in January, the peak consumption season.
This might lead to Chinese US soya imports slumping as much as 15-20 percent this season from a record 11.85 million tonnes in 2004/2005 unless US farmers decide to compete against South American suppliers towards the end of the season in March.