TOP HEADLINES
French Union to Escalate Port Strikes With Total Halt Feb. 26-27
A French union vowed to continue strikes at the country’s ports, including the biggest grains terminals, through the end of February, according to an emailed statement on Tuesday.
- The National Federation of Ports and Dockers-CGT Union says it’s “intensifying” protests because the government is ignoring their demands, including pension reform
- It plans a 48-hour work halt on Feb. 26-27, with all access to the ports blocked off on the second day
- The strike action also includes a four-hour work stoppage spread over 9 days between Feb. 4-28
- The union will also maintain a suspension of overtime and special work shifts
FUTURES & WEATHER
Wheat prices overnight are up 5 in SRW, up 6 in HRW, up 5 in HRS; Corn is up 2 3/4; Soybeans up 2 1/2; Soymeal up $0.30; Soyoil down 0.28.
For the week so far wheat prices are up 21 1/2 in SRW, up 22 in HRW, up 11 1/2 in HRS; Corn is up 15 1/2; Soybeans up 36 1/2; Soymeal up $12.90; Soyoil down 0.34.
Year-To-Date nearby futures are up 5.3% in SRW, up 7.5% in HRW, up 5.2% in HRS; Corn is up 8.5%; Soybeans up 8.0%; Soymeal up 2.1%; Soyoil up 15.1%.
Chinese Ag futures (MAY 25) Soybeans up 44 yuan; Soymeal up 96; Soyoil up 196; Palm oil up 218; Corn up 14 — Malaysian Palm is up 26.
Malaysian palm oil prices overnight were up 26 ringgit (+0.60%) at 4334.
There were no changes in registrations. Registration total: 20 SRW Wheat contracts; 71 Oats; 3 Corn; 262 Soybeans; 1,116 Soyoil; 1,462 Soymeal; 105 HRW Wheat.
Preliminary changes in futures Open Interest as of February 4 were: SRW Wheat up 300 contracts, HRW Wheat down 2,113, Corn up 6,746, Soybeans up 7,039, Soymeal up 5,386, Soyoil up 3,198.
Brazil: Rio Grande do Sul and Parana: Isolated to scattered showers north Wednesday. Scattered showers Thursday-Friday. Temperatures near to above normal through Friday. Mato Grosso, MGDS and southern Goias: Scattered showers mostly west Wednesday-Friday. Temperatures near normal Wednesday, near to above normal Thursday-Friday.
Argentina: Cordoba, Santa Fe, Northern Buenos Aires: Scattered showers Wednesday. Mostly dry Thursday-Friday. Temperatures near to above normal through Thursday, above normal Friday. La Pampa, Southern Buenos Aires: Scattered showers Wednesday. Mostly dry Thursday-Friday. Temperatures near to above normal through Thursday, above normal Friday.
Northern Plains: Isolated to scattered showers through Saturday. Temperatures below to well below normal through Saturday. Outlook: Mostly dry Sunday. Isolated showers Monday-Thursday. Temperatures below to well below normal Sunday-Thursday.
Central/Southern Plains: Isolated showers Wednesday. Mostly dry Thursday. Isolated showers Friday, southeast Saturday. Temperatures near to well above normal Wednesday-Saturday. Outlook: Isolated showers southeast Sunday. Scattered showers Monday-Tuesday. Mostly dry Wednesday. Scattered showers Thursday. Temperatures near to below normal Sunday, below normal Monday-Thursday.
Midwest: West: Scattered showers Wednesday. Mostly dry Thursday. Scattered showers Friday night-Saturday. Temperatures near to below normal north and above normal south through Saturday. East: Scattered showers Wednesday-Thursday. Mostly dry Friday. Scattered showers Saturday. Temperatures near to above normal through Saturday. Outlook: Lake-effect snow Sunday. Mostly dry Monday. Scattered showers Tuesday-Thursday. Temperatures near to below normal Sunday-Thursday.
The player sheet for Feb. 4 had funds: net buyers of 4,000 contracts of SRW wheat, buyers of 11,000 corn, buyers of 11,500 soybeans, buyers of 7,500 soymeal, and buyers of 4,000 soyoil.
TENDERS
- CORN SALE: The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed private sales of 132,000 metric tons of U.S. corn to South Korea for shipment in the 2024/25 marketing year.
- FOOD WHEAT TENDER: Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) is seeking to buy a total of 96,725 metric tons of food-quality wheat from the U.S. and Canada in a regular tender that will close late on Feb. 6.
- WHEAT TENDER: Bangladesh’s state grains buyer issued an international tender to purchase 50,000 metric tons of milling wheat
- U.S. WHEAT TENDER: A group of South Korean flour mills issued a tender to purchase about 50,000 metric tons of milling wheat to be sourced from the United States only.
- NO PURCHASE IN WHEAT TENDER: Jordan’s state grain buyer is believed to have made no purchase in an international tender to buy 120,000 metric tons of milling wheat which closed on Tuesday.
PENDING TENDERS
- CORN TENDER: South Korea’s Major Feedmill Group (MFG) has issued an international tender to purchase up to 140,000 metric tons of animal feed corn sourced from the United States, South America or South Africa only
- WHEAT TENDER: Jordan’s state grain buyer has issued an international tender to buy up to 120,000 metric tons of milling wheat which can be sourced from optional origins
- CORN, BARLEY AND SOYMEAL TENDERS: Iranian state-owned animal feed importer SLAL issued international tenders to purchase up to 120,000 metric tons of corn, 120,000 tons of barley and 60,000 tons of soymeal
- CORN AND BARLEY TENDERS: Algerian state agency ONAB issued three international tenders to purchase up to 240,000 metric tons of animal feed corn, 35,000 tons of feed barley and 35,000 tons of soymeal
- BARLEY TENDER: Jordan’s state grains buyer issued an international tender to purchase up to 120,000 metric tons of animal feed barley
- RICE TENDER: Bangladesh’s state grains buyer issued an international tender to purchase 50,000 metric tons of rice.
- RICE TENDER: Bangladesh’s state grains buyer issued another international tender to purchase 50,000 metric tons of rice.
TODAY
ETHANOL: US Weekly Production Survey Before EIA Report
Output and stockpile projections for the week ending Jan. 31 are based on five analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
- Production seen higher than last week at 1.056m b/d
- Stockpile avg est. 25.945m bbl vs 25.722m a week ago
EU’s Soft-Wheat Exports Drop 37% Y/y During Season to Feb. 2
EU soft wheat exports in the season that started July 1 totaled 12.5m tons as of Feb. 2, compared with 19.8m tons for the same period last year, the European Commission said on its website.
- Leading destinations included Nigeria with about 1.96m tons, Morocco with 1.36m tons and the UK with 960k tons
- Barley exports were 2.59m tons, down 27% y/y
- Corn imports totaled 11.9m tons, up 5% y/y
China has delayed or redirected 600,000 tons of wheat imports, sources say
- China’s wheat cargoes being resold to buyers in Southeast Asia
- Lower demand in China after bumper wheat, corn harvests
- Around 10 wheat cargoes to China delayed or redirected
China has delayed imports of up to 600,000 metric tons of mostly Australian wheat and offered some of these cargoes to other buyers as ample domestic supplies reduce demand in the world’s top buyer of the grain, two trade sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.
China accounted for 6% of global wheat imports in the year to June 2024, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. With its outsized role in the market, the country’s lower intake may pressure benchmark Chicago wheat prices, which remain below $6 a bushel after falling to a four-year low of $5.14 in July. GRA/
The country is well-stocked after plentiful corn and wheat harvests and to support local prices that have fallen as a result it does not want new wheat to arrive until as late as April, the sources said.
One of the sources, a Singapore-based trader at an international company that sells U.S. and Australian wheat into Asia, said he had direct knowledge of four shipments carrying around 240,000 metric tons, three from Australia and one from Canada, that Chinese buyers were trying to resell in Southeast Asia.
The trader said he had heard from other traders that around 10 ships in total from Australia and Canada were being delayed resold, each carrying around 60,000 tons of wheat.
“China has postponed the delivery time of several wheat cargoes that were to be shipped from Australia and Canada,” he said.
“There are ample supplies in the Chinese market and their local prices have fallen.”
A source at a major grain trader in Australia said he had direct knowledge of two wheat shipments booked for delivery to China in February, one of which has been delayed to April.
“The other is sailing, but the buyer plans to divert a chunk (of the grain onboard) to Thailand.”
China has delayed or redirected a total of eight to 10 Australian shipments that were booked for delivery in January or February and has booked no shipments for March, he said.
“China just doesn’t want anything showing up until April,” he said.
Early last year, Chinese wheat importers cancelled or postponed about 1 million metric tons of Australian wheat cargoes as growing world stockpiles dragged down prices. Still, in the first three months of 2024, China imported 1.7 million tons of wheat from Australia, down from 2.5 million tons in the same period a year earlier, and 923,000 tons from Canada, up from 783,000 tons a year earlier, according to Chinese trade data accessed using Trade Data Monitor.
Australia begins each year with freshly harvested wheat and has been China’s main first-quarter supplier in recent years.
China’s state-run COFCO, which is the importer of most of these delayed or redirected cargoes, is paying the costs of delaying shipments, including charges to hold back grain, and will take any gain or loss from reselling grain, the source in Australia said.
COFCO did not immediately reply to an email from Reuters requesting comment.
“China wants to protect its farmers. After a good corn crop, they have more than enough corn for feed. So now all of a sudden the wheat they were importing for feed and flour has been wound back to just flour,” the trader in Australia said.
China’s state stockpiler Sinograin said on Monday it plans to add new stockpiling sites in northeast China to expand purchases of domestic corn harvested in 2024.
Indian Farmers Boost Planting of Winter-Sown Wheat and Pulses
Wheat planting in the world’s second-biggest grower rose to 32.49m hectares (80.3m acres) as of Feb. 4 from 31.83m hectares a year earlier, according to the farm ministry.
The area under winter-sown pulses increased to 14.09m hectares from 13.78m hectares, the ministry said on Tuesday. Planting of oilseeds fell to 9.75m hectares, from 9.92m hectares, it said.
Ukraine Seeks to Open Grain Processing Hub in Egypt: Ministry
Ukraine seeks to open agriculture hub in the Suez Canal Economic Zone in Egypt to process grain delivered from Ukraine, Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Vitaliy Koval said in a statement on the ministry website.
- Koval met Suez Canal Economic Zone chairman Waleid Gamaleldien and visited port infrastructure, elevators, storage and logistics
- Hub operation will allow Ukraine to export flour, pasta and other products to countries which have free trade agreement with Egypt: Koval
- NOTE: Egypt is one of the world’s biggest wheat importers
Export duty on Russian wheat falls 11% to 3,941.6 rubles per tonne on Feb 5 – Agriculture Ministry
The export duty on Russian wheat has fallen 11% to 3,941.6 rubles per tonne on February 5 from 4,430.1 rubles per tonne in the previous duty period, the Russian Agriculture Ministry said.
The duty on barley has dropped to 3,012.5 rubles per tonne from 3,407.8 rubles per tonne, and the duty on corn has declined to 4,255.3 rubles per tonne from 4,659.1 rubles per tonne.
The duties are based on indicative prices of $240.90 per tonne for wheat against $240.90 per tonne the previous duty period, $215.30 per tonne for barley versus $215.30 per tonne, and $234 per tonne for corn against $233 per tonne. The duty rates are valid until February 11, inclusive.
Milei Says FX Controls Won’t Exist By 2026
In Argentina, President Javier Milei reiterated Monday night that currency and capital controls in the country will end by January 1, 2026, during a TV interview with La Nacion+. Milei also said he could accelerate the unwinding of controls depending on the size of a new program being negotiated with the International Monetary Fund.
US Agriculture Sentiment Rises in January: Purdue Univ.
The Purdue University/CME Group’s agricultural sentiment index increased to 141 points in Jan. from 136 in Dec., according to a survey of 400 agricultural producers.
- “The shift in attitudes was attributable in part to an improvement in crop prices from the time of the December to the January survey,” according to the report’s authors James Mintert and Michael Langemeier
- Current conditions component improved by 9 points from Dec.
- Future expectations up by 3 points
Acting CFTC chair restructures agency’s enforcement division
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission will reorganize its Division of Enforcement’s task forces to end “regulation by enforcement” and instead focus on combating fraud and helping victims, CFTC’s acting chairman said on Tuesday.
The agency, which polices commodities and swaps markets, will be folding previous task forces into two new units targeting complex fraud and targeting retail fraud and general enforcement, the CFTC said in a statement.
CFTC Acting Chairman Caroline Pham said in the statement the new structure will “stop regulation by enforcement” and maximize the agency’s resources to target fraudsters and other bad actors.
Paul Hayeck, a deputy director of enforcement, will serve as acting chief of the complex fraud task force and Charles Marvine, also a deputy director of enforcement, will be acting chief of the retail fraud team.
Pham was tapped to serve as acting chair on Jan. 20, when Republican Donald Trump was sworn in as U.S. president. At the time, she pledged to work constructively with stakeholders.
Olam Agri’s Brazil Co-Country Head Is To Leave The Company
Catia Jorge, Olam Group Ltd.’s agribusiness unit’s Brazil co-country head and leader of Latin American grains, is leaving within days, according to a person familiar with the matter.
- Jorge has worked for Olam since 2016
- Matthew Robbins, head of cotton and also Brazil co-country head, takes over grains operation for now
- Co. has not yet defined whether Robbins will stay in charge of grains definitively, the person said
- Olam Agri didn’t respond to a request for comment
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