Global Ag News for Dec 28

TODAY—EXPORT INSPECTIONS—COMMITMENTS REPORT—

Overnight trade has SRW Wheat down roughly 2 cents, HRW down 2; HRS Wheat down 1, Corn is up 3 cents; Soybeans up 3;  Soymeal up $3.00, and Soyoil down 30 points.

For the week, SRW Wheat prices were up roughly 16 cents; HRW up 19; HRS up 14; Corn was up 14 cents; Soybeans up 40 cents; Soymeal up $9.00, and; Soyoil up 150 points. Crushing margins were down $0.06 at $0.98 (March); Oil share up 1% at 33%.

Chinese Ag futures (May) settled up 24 yuan in soybeans, up 28 in Corn, up 24 in Soymeal, down 56 in Soyoil, and down 64 in Palm Oil.

Malaysian palm oil prices were down 28 ringgit at 3,541 (basis March) tracking weaker Chinese vegoil prices.

Brazil weather in this coming week is unlikely to change greatly with rain falling most frequently and most significantly from Mato Grosso to Parana, Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais. The bottom line for Brazil is good for center west and center south crop areas even though some areas will not get abundant rain. There will be enough moisture to support crop development

Argentina weather over the 3-day period ending Sunday morning was warm and generally dry in the central and southeast parts of the nation. Net drying occurred in most of the nation and topsoil moisture is rated short to very short in the majority of the nation’s key grain and oilseed production areas while subsoil moisture was rated short to very short in the west and adequate to slightly short in eastern parts of the nation.

The player sheet had funds net sellers of 2,000 contracts of SRW Wheat; bought 10,000 Corn; net bought 5,000 Soybeans; sold 4,000 lots of Soymeal, and; bought 3,000 lots of Soyoil.

We estimate Managed Money net long 25,000 contracts of SRW Wheat; long 355,000 Corn; net long 258,000 Soybeans; net long 101,000 lots of Soymeal, and; long 116,000 Soyoil.

Preliminary Open Interest saw SRW Wheat futures down roughly 1,790 contracts; HRW Wheat down 140; Corn down 1,100; Soybeans down 14,700 contracts; Soymeal up 4,300 lots, and; Soyoil down 4,300.

There were changes in registrations (SRW down 16; Soybeans down 75)—Registrations total 49 contracts for SRW Wheat; ZERO Oats; Corn ZERO; Soybeans 100; Soyoil 1,313 lots; Soymeal 200; Rice 313; HRW Wheat 113, and; HRS 1,041.

Tender Activity—Taiwan seeks 82,325t U.S. wheat—

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team has held calls with biofuel groups on topics including compliance with U.S. biofuel blending laws and Biden’s low-carbon climate vision. The discussions with biofuel trade groups as well as POET, a top company in the cellulosic bio-ethanol space, come as the industry positions itself as part of Biden’s fight against climate change.

China sold 484,427 tonnes of wheat, 12.01% of the total offer, at an auction of state reserves last week, the National Grain Trade Centre said; the average selling price of the wheat was 2,341 yuan($358.50) per tonne; the volumes sold at the auctions have declined steadily since October.

China will take action to ensure the country’s total grain output remains above 650 billion kg in the coming year, authorities said. The country has also vowed to maintain its sown area above 116.67 million hectares in 2021. Guaranteeing sound grain production is a top policy priority for China adding that efforts should be made to optimize planting structure and increase supplies of gricultural products experiencing shortages to ensure food security. Despite the disruption of the COVID-19 epidemic, China saw its 17th consecutive bumper year in 2020, with grain output reaching nearly 670 billion kg, up 5.65 billion kg or 0.9 percent from a year earlier

Chinese imports of U.S. soybeans in November more than doubled from the previous year, customs data showed on Friday, as cargoes booked following a Phase 1 trade deal between the United States and China arrived in the country. The world’s top buyer of soybeans brought in 6.04 million tonnes of the oilseed from the United States in November, up 136% from 2.56 million tonnes a year ago. The November shipments were also up from 3.4 million tonnes in October, when U.S. soybeans started to dominate the market in the fourth quarter. In the first 11 months of the year, China imported 20.05 million tonnes of U.S. soybeans, up 45% from 13.85 million tonnes the previous year.

It also bought 2.74 million tonnes of Brazilian beans in November, down 29% from 3.86 million tonnes a year earlier, and also a fall from 4.23 million tonnes in October with the South American country’s soybean season coming to a close. Brazilian shipments during Jan-Nov came in at 63.1 million tonnes, up 19% from 52.84 million tonnes last year.

Argentina’s influential chamber of soyoil manufacturers and exporters on Sunday spiced up an offer to striking workers, seeking to end a more than two-week standoff that has bogged down exports from one of the world’s main breadbaskets. The CIARA-CEC chamber said it would top up salaries by 35% in 2020, a central demand of the striking workers, many of whom stayed on the job through the height of the coronavirus pandemic. The group also offered a 70,000 peso (about $840) bonus to compensate for the risks entailed.

Russia’s December exports of wheat, barley and maize (corn) are estimated at 3.6 million tonnes, down from 4.7 million tonnes in November, the SovEcon agriculture consultancy said.

• The transport of grain by railway from several Russian regions to its export ports is being delayed by officials, the Kommersant newspaper reported on Friday, citing unnamed industry sources.
• The issue could be caused by officials ensuring that grain exports do not accelerate in the run-up to Feb. 15, when a wheat export tax is due to be introduced, Kommersant added.

Grain traders told Reuters last week they are experiencing delays in obtaining export documents from Russia’s customs service, leading to the late departure of several ships.

Ukrainian wheat export prices have risen by $3 per tonne over the past week thanks to a strong demand from exporters concerned about the uncertainty with wheat exports from Russia

Ukrainian 12.5% protein wheat ask prices reached $263 per tonne FOB Black Sea at the end of past week; Ukraine plans to export 17.5 million tonnes in the 2020/21 July-June season.

Earlier this month, the Russian government decided to impose a wheat export tax of for Feb. 15-June 30 as one measure to stabilise domestic prices.

Ukrainian corn prices were flat at $235 FOB, the consultancy said.

Euronext wheat extended gains in a shortened pre-Christmas session on Thursday, touching a near four-week high as concern over disruption to Argentine exports due to a labour strike continued to support grain markets. March milling wheat settled up 0.50 euros, or 0.2%, at 211.75 euros ($258.10) a tonne. The contract rose as high as 212.00 euros, reaching the highest since Nov. 27 for the second session in a row.

Egypt has strategic wheat reserves sufficient for 5.5 months, the supply ministry said; The North African country has strategic rice reserves sufficient for 11.1 months and strategic vegetable oils reserves sufficient for 4.3 months.

Wheat prices have risen in recent months on uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic and protective measures such as Russian export quotas, Egypt’s supply minister said, adding that he expects them to stabilise. The last three months have seen high prices caused by uncertainty and not the usual factors of climate change or problems with harvests,

Morocco extended its suspension of import duties on soft wheat to May 31 to ensure regular supply amid low domestic output, the government said on Thursday.

Drought has cut Morocco’s cereals harvest by 39% this year, leading to a 44.5% increase in soft wheat imports to 11.6 billion dirhams ($ 1.3 billion)

Indonesia has raised the crude palm oil (CPO) reference price and export levy for January. The reference price of crude palm oil will be raised to $951.86 per tonne in January from $870.77 in December while export tax collected from CPO will be raised to $74 from $33 per tonne previously.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for December 1 – 25 rose 17.3 percent to 1,333,543 tonnes from 1,137,161 tonnes shipped during November 1 – 25, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said.