Chicago Beans End Sharply Lower After Dismal Export Sales

Posted by Nogger - a legend in his own mind at 13:19 | Categorized as

06/012/17 -- Soycomplex: Beans closed sharply lower following weekly export sales of only 87,500 MT vs the expected 750 TMT to 1.2 MMT. Total reductions for unknown destinations in this report were nearly 900 TMT. FCStone increased their view by 700 TMT on Brazilian production to 102.8 MMT, but Informa cut Argentina 1 MMT to 55 MMT. There's talk that Brazil could increase their Jan soybean export program significantly due to better availability and easier access to ports/improved logistics. Jan 17 Soybeans settled at $9.86, down 17 1/2 cents; Mar 17 Soybeans settled at $9.94 3/4, down 17 3/4 cents; Jan 17 Soybean Meal settled at $307.50, down $6.90; Jan 17 Soybean Oil settled at 34.77, down 23 points.

Corn: The market closed around 3 cents lower. Weekly export sales came in at 429,246 MT, towards the low end of expectations, but this was for a holiday week so perhaps can be excused. The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange says corn plantings will be 4.9 million ha, unchanged from last week, and up 27% from last year. They have corn planting progress at 82.9% complete compared to 71.3% last week. Others are scaling back on their planting and hence production ideas due to wet weather/flooding. Informa cut their view on Argentine production, down slightly from the previous estimate of 36.5 MMT to 36.0 MMT. Mar 17 Corn settled at $3.58, down 3 1/4 cents; May 17 Corn settled at $3.64 3/4, down 2 3/4 cents.

Wheat: The wheat market closed mixed. The USDA announced the sale of 100,000 MT of hard red winter wheat for delivery to unknown destinations during the 2016/17 marketing year. That helped temper the news that weekly export sales of only 183,700 MT were below modest trade expectations of 200-500 TMT. Farm Futures magazine forecast US winter wheat seedings of 34.8 million acres, the lowest total since 1913 as the low price/profit outlook encourages switching to other crops. Informa forecast Argentine wheat production at 15 MMT, up from their previous estimate of 13 MMT. They have been flexing their muscles lately on the international export arena, and another 2 MMT will only make matters worse. Mar 17 CBOT Wheat settled at $4.23 1/4, down 3 cents; Mar 17 KCBT Wheat settled at $4.33 1/2, down 1 cent; Mar 17 MGEX Wheat settled at $5.52 3/4, up 2 1/2 cents.