Chicago Markets All End Slightly Lower
22/04/15 -- Soycomplex: Beans closed lower, with concerns over bird flu in the US rising. Another outbreak in Wisconsin among an 87,000 turkey flock was confirmed by the USDA today. The virus has also been found in 13 turkey flocks in Minnesota with at least 430,300 birds, according to Bloomberg. Millions of chickens will also be slaughtered in Iowa in an effort to contain the disease which has now been found in 16 states. Ag Canada estimated the 2015 Canadian canola crop at 16 MMT, unchanged from their previous forecast and up 0.4 MMT on a year ago. Stats Canada release their latest acreage figures tomorrow. The average trade estimate for that puts canola plantings in 2015 at 20.2 million acres, down slightly from the 2014 area of 20.325 million. Ukraine farmers have begun planting what is expected to be a record near 2 million ha of soybeans for the 2015 harvest, and are eyeing Europe as the main home for this year's crop, say APK Inform. The total EU-28 oilseeds production for the 2015/16 marketing year is expected to decline by around 9% to 32 MMT, of which soybean production is only expected to account for around 1.7 MMT. Trade estimates for tomorrow's USDA Weekly Export Sales Report are in the 100,000-450,000 MT region for beans across both marketing years, with old crop sales possibly in negative territory. May 15 Soybeans closed at $9.70 1/2, down 4 3/4 cents; Jul 15 Soybeans closed at $9.71 3/4, down 5 cents; May 15 Soybean Meal closed at $315.50, down $0.30; May 15 Soybean Oil closed at 31.56, down 26 points.
Corn: The corn market closed with generally marginal losses. News of the spread of bird flu across the US was a bearish factor again today. An outbreak of another H5N2 virus in the Northeast in 1983 and 1984 resulted in the destruction of 17 million chickens, turkeys and guinea fowl, report Bloomberg. The US Energy Dept reported weekly ethanol production up 6,000 barrels/day at 930,000 bpd. That's an improvement, but below the 2015 average of over 950,000 bpd. China's CNGOIC said that the country imported just 50.6 TMT of corn in March, of which 36.1 TMT came from Ukraine and 9.4 TMT from Russia. Chinese DDGs imports last month on the other hand were nearly three times those of February at 243,000 MT. Trade estimates for the USDA Export Sales report for corn tomorrow are in the 400,000-700,000 MT range. Russian corn planting is said to be 13.3% complete on 373,000 ha so far. UkrAgroConsult estimated the Ukraine grain crop in 2015 at 53.9 MMT versus 59.4 MMT a year ago, Corn production will fall 7.3% to 24 MMT, they predict. Ukraine's corn exports in 2015/16 will come in at around 16-17 MMT versus 18.5 MMT this season, they predict. Canadian 2015 corn plantings are estimated at around 3.1 million acres in tomorrow's Stats Canada report, which is around the same level as a year ago. May 15 Corn closed at $3.72 1/2, down 1/2 cent; Jul 15 Corn closed at $3.79 1/2, down 1/2 cent.
Wheat: The wheat market ended the day with small losses across the three exchanges. CNGOIC reported that China imported 152.2 TMT of wheat in March, down 71.8% on February. Canada (60.4 TMT), the US (55.6 TMT) and Australia (26.6 TMT) were the main suppliers. Barley imports on the other hand jumped 56.9% to almost 850 TMT, of which Australia (536 TMT) was the main supplier, followed by Canada (114 TMT) and France (174 TMT). Canadian all wheat plantings from Stats Canada tomorrow are forecast at 24.2 million acres versus the 2014 area of 23.835 million. UkrAgroConsult estimated Ukraine's 2015/16 wheat exports at 10.8 MMT. The Ukraine Ministry have exports this season at 11.7 MMT, so that would be a drop of 7.7%. Syria were reported to have purchased 150,000 MT of optional origin soft milling wheat, thought most likely to be from the Black Sea, at EUR216/tonne C&F, according to Reuters. Egypt were said to have bought 120,000 MT of wheat on the domestic market as part of the government's move to buy 3.7 MMT this year to go towards their subsidised bread programme. Rabobank forecast Chicago wheat prices to average $5.20/bushel in Q2 of 2015, and $5.30 in Q3. Both figures are 10 cents lower than their previous estimates in March. The trade will be hoping for better old crop weekly export sales tomorrow than the dismal 47,900 MT reported last week, with estimates for that in the 200-300 TMT region. May 15 CBOT Wheat closed at $4.98 3/4, down 2 cents; May 15 KCBT Wheat closed at $5.12, down 1 3/4 cents; May 15 MGEX Wheat closed at $5.43, down 2 1/4 cents.
