Nogger's Blog

25/11/10 -- Our mates across the Pond might be on holiday tucking into deep-fried turkey, but to the rest of us it's just another ordinary day, except Chicago is closed.

The Chinese admitted for the first time yesterday that corn supplies this season might me a teeny weeny bit tighter than they'd been letting on, according to this report from Reuters: China sees big corn shortage, urges more bank aid

In India the winter wheat crop is late going into the ground on the back of a summer monsoon season that lasted much longer than normal, meaning that summer crops like cotton and sugar cane are still being harvested. Wheat sowings are 30% down on last season as of 19th November. They'd expect the entire crop to be sown by the end of this month normally. That might have a negative impact on yields in what is a relatively short-cycle crop with harvesting beginning in March.

Iraq are expected to tender for 100,000 MT of optional origin milling wheat today/tomorrow. Typically they buy considerably more than they tender for.

Yesterday the vibe was that China and America were shoulder to shoulder on the Korean situation. Today the news that the "enthusiastic" US has dispatched the aircraft carrier USS George Washington to the region, and will hold four days of naval exercises with South Korea in the Yellow Sea, has been met with a less keen response from China.

The USDA's weekly export sales report is delayed until Friday. Trade estimates are: Wheat 500-800,000 MT, Corn 400-900,000 MT, Soybeans 850,000 MT-1.2 MMT.