Morning Snippets

Posted by Nogger - a legend in his own mind at 10:23 | Categorized as

17/01/12 -- The overnight markets are sharply higher. In the case of beans and corn effectively reversing Friday night's losses, and for wheat more than making up for a couple of cents fall ahead of the long weekend.

Argy weather is the driver once again as the market comes to the conclusion that corn and soybean production there will probably end up significantly lower than last Thursday's USDA numbers suggested. They are likely to be correct in that assumption.

Having apparently ditched 36,000 corn contracts in the two sessions since the USDA report came out will funds be back in as buyers tonight? It certainly looks so at the moment.

At 9.65 MMT, Ukraine has shipped 42% more grain so far this season than last. The combined exports of the Black Sea powerhouses of Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan have reached 30.7 MMT of grain in the first half of 2011/12 and they have the potential to ship a further 28 MMT in the second half, according to Agritel.

They also report that Ukraine has had "abundant" snowfall since Sunday which will finally protect winter grains from sub-zero temperatures.

Corn harvesting is underway in the southern Brazilian states of Parana and Rio Grande do Sul, say Celeres.

At home, Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation fell from 4.8% to 4.2% last month - the biggest monthly fall since April 2009.