- The USDA has today released its weekly export figures as detailed below:
Wheat 716,600 mt; which is above estimates of 450,000-650,000 mt
Corn 985,200 mt; which is within estimates of 750,000-1,050,000 mt
Soybeans 1,231,300 mt; which is above estimates of 400,000-800,000 mt
Soybean meal 148,900 mt; which is within estimates of 120,000-280,000 mt
Soybean Oil 1,100 mt; which is below estimates of 5,000-10,000 mt
The soybean figure represents new crop sales, mostly to China who also accounted for old crop cancellations.
- CBOT markets have shown gains today with corn showing the way in the light of sowing delays caused by the much discussed cold and wet weather. Wheat has followed and soybeans have also made gains. The front month contracts in both soybeans and corn are illustrating the strong cash demand, which has pushed basis levels higher. The May ’13 soybean premium has stretched to over $0.70/bu, whilst the corn premium has reached close to $0.40/bu. The tightness in old crop supplies is likely to reflect a similar position in the July contract as May reaches expiry later this month.
- Brussels issued a further 342,000 mt of wheat export certificates, which brings the season to date total up to 18.905 million mt, 5.1 million mt ahead of the same time last season. Given concerns that the Ukraine export route was once again “open for business” has not materialised into serious EU export competition so far. We reported earlier that domestic prices were at a sufficiently high level to discourage traders from opting for export markets ahead of domestic; so far this seems to be holding true.