Beijing-based Cofeed, a private consultancy that grain traders have come to rely on for information, has suddenly stopped posting data.
It was set up almost 20 years ago and earned a reputation as the most comprehensive supplier of information on grains and oilseeds in the world's biggest buyer of soybeans, reports Reuters news agency.
It stopped updating data on its website and feeds to clients on April 29 without explanation.
"It's pretty inconvenient," said Darin Friedrichs, senior Asia commodity analyst at the Shanghai office of international brokerage StoneX Group.
"Their numbers were taken as de facto estimates on arrivals. I'm still looking at where else we can get it from," he said.
Cofeed's data on soybean and soymeal inventories, crush margins, operating rates at soy crushing plants, soybean arrivals, premiums and prices in different regions was especially valued by the industry.
