Chicago Quiet Ahead Of Holiday
21/11/12 -- Soycomplex: Jan 13 Soybeans closed at USD14.08 1/4, down 4 1/2 cents; Mar 13 Soybeans closed at USD13.93 3/4, down 2 1/2 cents; Dec 12 Soybean Meal closed at USD427.9, down USD1.70; Dec 12 Soybean Oil closed at 48.53, up 21 points. It was a typically quiet low volume day ahead of tomorrow's Thanksgiving holiday. China bought two cargoes of US soybeans, said the USDA. They also booked 20,000 MT of US soyoil, and the USDA confirmed a further 56,000 MT sold to unknown. Oil World said that they expect Chinese demand for soyoil to rely more heavily on US supplies from now on until new crop becomes available in South America. Chinese customs data shows Jan/Oct 2012 soybean imports running at 48.34 MMT, up 16.6% from a year ago. Soyoil imports are at 1.44 MMT, up 47.33% from a year ago. Wetness in Argentina may encourage some switching out of corn acres into beans. MDA CropCast forecast the Argentine soybean crop at 54.4 MMT versus the USDA's 55.0 MMT. They pegged output in Brazil at 80.3 MMT versus the USDA's 80.0 MMT.
Corn: Dec 12 Corn closed at USD7.41, down 2 1/4 cents; Mar 13 Corn closed at USD7.45 1/4, down 2 cents. MDA CropCast cut their Argentine corn production forecast by 400 TMT from last week to 25.9 MMT versus the USDA's 28 MMT on a lower planted area. They did however raise output in Brazil by a similar volume to 70.8 MMT on recent beneficial rains. Data from the US Energy Dept showed ethanol production at a four week low of 811,000 barrels per day this past week. Stocks were up from 17.851 million barrels last week to 18.927 million this time round. Chinese customs data shows October corn imports were 445,252 MT, up 46.32% from a year ago. That brings 2012 year-to-date imports to 4.56 MMT - up sharply from a year ago. Weekly export sales will be released on Friday, a day later than normal due to the Thanksgiving holiday. The trade is said to be expecting sales of 250-500 TMT. They may be disappointed once more.
Wheat: Dec 12 CBOT Wheat closed at USD8.45 1/4, up 1/4 cent; Dec 12 KCBT Wheat closed at USD8.76 1/4, down 1 1/4 cents; Dec 12 MGEX Wheat closed at USD9.14, up 1 1/4 cents. Russia’s Ag Ministry estimated Russia’s 2012/13 grain exports at 15.5 MMT versus a previous estimate of 10-11 MMT, adding that they have exported 11.0 MMT of grain so far this season. Separately, Russia’s Grain Union estimated Russia’s ‘12/13 wheat exports at 9.5-10.0 MMT. They sold 61,715 MT of wheat from intervention stocks in a tender today, taking the total sold since Oct 23 is 568,279 MT. US wheat missed out due to price in an Iraqi tender which was split between Australia (200 TMT), Canada (100 TMT) and Russia (50 TMT). Syria is tendering for 100 TMT of wheat for Dec-Feb shipment. Chinese customs data shows that they imported 350,375 MT of wheat in October vs. only 59,997 MT a year ago. Year-to-date imports are 3.57 MMT - up sharply from a year ago.
