The corn was bought in three consignments with the most likely origins the United States, South America or South Africa, they said.

One consignment of 65,000 tonnes was bought from trading house ETG at $186.40 a tonne c&f plus a $1.00 a tonne surcharge for additional port unloading for arrival in South Korea around Sept. 10.

A second consignment of 69,000 tonnes was bought from Bunge at $185.64 a tonne c&f plus a $1.15 a tonne surcharge for additional port unloading for arrival in South Korea around Sept. 20.

The third consignment of 69,000 tonnes was also bought from Bunge at $184.46 a tonne c&f plus a $1.15 a tonne surcharge for additional port unloading for arrival in South Korea around Sept. 30.

NOFI had also purchased about 70,000 tonnes of corn to be sourced optionally from the United States or South America in a direct deal on Wednesday before issuing a new tender for corn on Thursday, European traders said.

South Korean importers have been heavy buyers of corn this week after Chicago corn futures fell on expectations of better planting weather for US farms.

South Korea's Major Feedmill Group (MFG) purchased about 137,000 tonnes this week, the Korea Feed Association (KFA) bought about 120,000 tonnes and the Feed Leaders Committee (FLC) purchased about 60,000 tonnes.

Other deals are also said to have taken place, traders said.