Chicago Grains Mixed For The Week
W/e 03/02/17 -- Soycomplex: Beans closed with Mar 17 Soybeans at $10.27, down 10 1/4 cents; May 17 Soybeans settled at $10.37 1/4, down 10 cents; Mar 17 Soybean Meal settled at $331.60, down $2.20; Mar 17 Soybean Oil settled at 33.86, down 73 points. For the week that puts Mar 17 beans down 31 3/4 cents, with Mar 17 meal down $11.40 and Mar 17 oil down 41 points. The harvest is moving on, and the crop seemingly getting larger in Brazil. Soybean harvest in the lead producing state of Mato Grosso is at 31% complete according to IMEA. FC Stone increased their soybean production estimate for Brazil to 104.1 MMT from 102.8 MMT. Informa Economics increased their forecast for 2016/17 Brazilian soyabean production by 1.5 MMT to 106.5 MMT.
Corn: Corn ended with Mar 17 Corn at $3.65 1/4, down 2 1/4 cents, and May 17 Corn settling at $3.72 3/4, down 2 1/4 cents. For the week that puts Mar 17 up 2 3/4 cents and May 17 up 3 cents. Mato Grosso’s second corn crop planting is currently at 27% completed vs. 11% last year. Argentina’s Buenos Aires Grain Exchange estimated their crop to be 99.3% planted, while production is estimated by Informa to be 35.2 MMT, down from the 36.0 MMT forecast previously. The EU Commission pegged EU corn ending stocks for 2016/17 at the lowest in 9 years. "At 9.9 MMT, the latest estimate is below the levels recorded in 2012/13 and is the result of two consecutive years with below average output, against robust demand," said the HGCA.
Wheat: Mar 17 CBOT Wheat settled at $4.30 1/4, down 4 1/4 cents; Mar 17 KCBT Wheat settled at $4.40 1/2, down 3 cents; Mar 17 MGEX Wheat settled at $5.58 1/4, down 2 3/4 cents. For the week that puts Chicago wheat 9 3/4 cents higher, with Kansas up 6 1/4 cents and Minneapolis down 1 3/4 cents. Managed money in Chicago continues to hold a significant short position, seemingly limiting downside. Positive factors for wheat include reduced winter wheat acres, dry extended forecast for the Plains, and the reduction of spring wheat acres by as much as 1.5 million acres (according to the University of North Dakota), said Water Street Solutions.
EU Grains Post Weekly Losses
"UK old crop wheat market recorded marginal declines last week mainly driven by further currency volatility, while the domestic new crop market showed small increases on the week," said the HGCA.
"From a global perspective, US grain markets closed up on the week, driven by a combination of factors including strong bioethanol demand for maize," they added.
EU corn stocks for the end of the season, at 9.9 MMT, were pegged at the lowest in over nine years by the EU Commission, they noted. This is viewed as supportive for EU wheat prices.
Saudi Arabia bought 1.5 MMT of feed barley in a tender for shipment between March and May.
Strategie Grains cut their monthly estimate for 2017/18 EU rapeseed production by just over 0.5 MMT to 21.56 MMT due to severe cold weather, specifically citing damage to the crop in Eastern Europe.
Statistics Canada placed total wheat stocks there as at 31 December 2016 at 25.03 MMT, over 800 MT above the average trade expectation.
