Chicago Grains Post Little Change Tuesday
25/10/16 -- Soycomplex: Beans closed little changed. Support came from the USDA announcing private exporters reported export sales of 516,000 MT of US soybeans for delivery to China during the 2016/17 marketing year. Malaysian palm oil was lower though, adding a slightly negative vibe. Brazilian beans are said to be 28% planted versus 20% a year ago and 27% on average. Mato Grosso is well advanced at 42% done (20% a year ago), and so too is Parana state at more than 50% complete (35% a year ago). EU rapeseed futures were lower despite MARS confirming poor establishment of newly sown crops in the two largest producing nations - France and Germany. Nov 16 Soybeans settled at $9.90 3/4, down 1 1/4 cents; Jan 17 Soybeans settled at $10.02 1/4, unchanged; Dec 16 Soybean Meal settled at $308.20, up $0.90; Dec 16 Soybean Oil settled at 35.80, down 19 points.
Corn: The market closed around a cent higher. Fresh news was limited. South Korea's MFG were reported to have purchased 60,000 MT of optional origin corn for Jan 2017 delivery. Chinese customs data shows that their DDGS imports in Spetember were down sharply (-70%) versus a year ago as the new anti-dumping tariffs kick-in. Anecdotal reports suggest that US farmer selling is light at these levels. "Producers continue to favour holding their corn and marketing their soybeans. Spot prices today indicate a producer will lose on every bushel he markets in corn whereas he will clear a profit on every bushel of soybeans," said FCStone. Ukraine's corn harvest is 54% done at 13.28 MMT. Russia's corn harvest is 52.6% complete at 8.5 MMT. The EU Commission's MARS unit lowered their forecast for EU-28 corn yields from 6.84 MT/ha to 6.82 MT/ha (and versus 6.93 MT/ha for the 5-year average). Dec 16 Corn settled at $3.49 1/4, up 1 cent; Mar 17 Corn settled at $3.59, up 1 cent.
Wheat: The wheat market closed narrowly mixed. Egypt bought 420,000 MT of mixed Romanian/Russian wheat at around $193/tonne C&F. IKAR lowered their forecast for Russia's wheat exports in 2016/17 from 30 MMT to 29.5 MMT, although that's still a record. Russia's Ag Min said that this year's wheat harvest is 98% complete at 75.8 MMT in bunker weight. Russian winter grain (mostly wheat) plantings for the 2017 harvest are past 95% done. Chinese customs data shows that they have imported 2.86 MMT of wheat in the first nine months of 2016, a 27% increase on the same period in 2015. Australia was the largest supplier, accounting for 42% of that total. The EU Commission's MARS unit said that winter wheat plantings were seeing "overall fair progress, despite some hiccups." They trimmed their forecast for 2016 soft wheat yields from 5.63 MT/ha to 5.62 MT/ha, down from 5.83 MT/ha for the 5-year average. Dec 16 CBOT Wheat settled at $4.04 1/4, up 1 3/4 cents; Dec 16 KCBT Wheat settled at $4.13 1/2, up 1 cent; Dec 16 MGEX Wheat settled at $5.24, down 3/4 cent.
