Headlines:

  • The next USDA supply and demand report is on March 9th, 2017.
  • White corn prices in South Africa slump on big crop prospect
    Corn prices in South Africa collapsed this week, thanks to estimates of a sharp rebound in production this year. March white corn futures in Johannesburg fell some 19% this week, after the country’s main crop forecasting body saw a bigger-than-expected crop on its way. And prices were also pressured on Friday, as the rand reversed a recent weakening trend against the dollar, which will make imports more affordable. This week South Africa’s Crop Estimate Committee released their first estimates of the season, pegging the country’s total maize production at 13.92m tonnes, up 78% year-on-year, following the drought of the previous season.  Of this total, 60% is white maize and the remainder is yellow maize. This estimate, although preliminary, was much bigger than the 11.90m tonnes forecast by South Africa’s Agricultural business chamber Agbiz.
  • Brazilian army steps in to get soybean exports flowing
    The Brazilian military stepped in to get soybean trucks moving along rain-damaged roads, allowing the resumption of shipments north along the Amazon, with the traffic jams expected to be cleared today. After heavy rains last month, thousands of trucks were stuck along unpaved roads heading north out of Mato Grosso. As Agrimony reported on Monday, the delays have slowed the pace of barge loadings at Amazon depots to a crawl. But according to the National Department of Transport Infrastructure (Dnit), the line of trucks that should be cleared today, if weather conditions allow. “The blocked highway has resulted in losses in the millions of reals for trucking companies, barging operations, exporters, ports, and farmers in northern Mato Grosso,” says analyst Dr Michael Cordonnier.

    “Additionally, five municipalities along the highway have declared a state of emergency due to dwindling supplies of food and fuel.”

Summary:

The South American Soybean and Corn crop outlook remains strong pushing US grain and oilseed futures lower today. According to MDA Information Systems, crop conditions across Argentina should remain favorable for the foreseeable future. The recent round of rain in Argentina arrived at an opportune time for both Corn and Beans. Rain in central and southern Brazil looks to further improve moisture for late crop growth with expectations of dryness in the far NE areas.

Informa raised its Brazil Soybean production forecast to 108 million metric tons from a prior outlook of 106.5 million tons. The USDA pegged the country’s crop at 104 million tons, which would still make it by and large the 2nd biggest producer behind the US. Informa also raised its Corn output projection to 91 million tons versus last month’s 89 million tons.

As the day progressed technical buying took over lifting prices up from intraday day lows leaving all three markets with settling prices that were close to par with yesterday’s close. The July Corn contract was up ¾ of a cent, July Beans lost ½ cent and July Wheat was also up ¼ cent.