Chicago Grains Slip Lower On Lack Of Supportive Inputs
25/02/15 -- Soycomplex: Beans closed lower on media reports of some form of resolution to the Brazilian trucker drivers strike. The Chinese Dalian market re-opened after a week off for their Lunar New Year celebrations, and promptly traded lower. Talk of South American soymeal trading into the US east coast was also bearish. The USDA attaché in Paraguay estimated their soybean crop at a record 9.2 MMT, up 8% from last year. Trade estimates for tomorrow's weekly export sales data from the USDA see bean sales sharply lower this week due to the Chinese holiday. Soybean sales are pegged at around the 500,000 MT mark for both old and new crop combined. Mar 15 Soybeans closed at $10.07 3/4, down 8 1/4 cents; May 15 Soybeans closed at $10.10 3/4, down 8 cents; Mar 15 Soybean Meal closed at $350.50, down $6.40; Mar 15 Soybean Oil closed at 31.71, up 29 points.
Corn: The corn market slipped the best part of a couple of cents lower amidst a chronic lack of fresh news. The usual Wednesday data from the US Energy Dept revealed ethanol production fell to 947,000 barrels/day last week, down from 964,000 bpd the previous week. Stocks were up half a million barrels and now stand at a near 3 year high. One of the main access roads into the Brazilian Port of Santos was reported to have been cleared after it had been blockaded by striking truck drivers. Israel were reported to have bought 90,000 MT of optional origin corn, with Ukraine possibly the most likely origin. Ukraine said that they'd shipped 10.8 MMT of corn so far this season. Benson Quinn report that "US corn currently sits at a reported $8 premium to Ukrainian and Argentinian offers." Tomorrow's weekly export sales for corn are expected to come in around 700-900 TMT. Mar 15 Corn closed at $3.75 3/4, down 1 3/4 cents; May 15 Corn closed at $3.83 3/4, down 1 3/4 cents.
Wheat: The wheat market closed lower across the board. The USDA announced 120,000 MT of US HRW wheat sold to Egypt for 2014/15 shipment. This was probably part of yesterday's reported business under the $100 million credit extension. The Russian PM supposedly said that there was no need as yet to extend the export duty on wheat to corn and/or barley. Israel bought 25,000 MT of optional origin feed wheat. Bangladesh are shopping for 50,000 MT of milling wheat for Mar-Apr shipment. Japan seeks 120,000 MT of feed wheat and 200,000 MT of feed barley for June shipment. India’s farm ministry said that India’s 2015 wheat crop prospects look better than they did last year when production was 95.85 MMT. The Ukraine Hydrometeorlogical Centre said that 15% of the nation's winter wheat crop would need replanting this spring. Mar 15 CBOT Wheat closed at $4.97 3/4, down 8 cents; Mar 15 KCBT Wheat closed at $5.28 1/4, down 7 1/2 cents; Mar 15 MGEX Wheat closed at $5.52 3/4, down 13 1/4 cents.