Headlines:
- Weak prices fail to improve US corn, wheat export performance
US corn and wheat prices may be depressed – but not depressed enough to entice orders from importers. European Union wheat exports this week were not greater either. US exporters booked 599,200 metric tons of sales for the week to last Thursday – a figure down 45% week on week, and well below market expectations of 700,000-1.0m metric tons. For wheat, the US Department of Agriculture data showed export sales of 184,400 metric tons for the latest week, the lowest in four months, and below forecasts of a figure between 250,000-450,000 metric tons. That the sales figure was down only 8% week on week reflected the poor performance in the previous period too. By type, hard red winter wheat, traded as Kansas City wheat, proved notably soft, down 62% week on week at 55,382 metric tons. Hard red spring wheat, as traded in Minneapolis, weren’t great, at 36,486 metric tons, but at least positive this time, after showing net cancellations last time. US exports of lower-protein soft red winter wheat, the type traded in Chicago, came in at a more respectable 34,449 metric tons, near tripling week on week. Separately, the European Commission reported EU soft wheat exports this week at 296,000 metric tons, slipping behind the pace of recent weeks.] Indeed, they almost fell below corn imports, pegged at 287,000 metric tons, taking the total this season to 5.84m metric tons, a rise of 59% year on year.
Summary:
Corn traded slightly higher today on technical buying and short covering continues to lend support to the action. December Corn closed 2¾ cents higher and July was 2 cents higher. Weekly export sales data for the week came in at 0.599 million metric tons (mmt) vs. trade estimates that ranged from 0.7 -1.1 mmt for the 2017-18 marketing year. Sales for 2018-19 marketing year came in at 0.6061 mmt vs. estimates ranging from 0-0.1 mmt. Soybean futures finished lower today on the heels of improving weather projections for Argentina at the end of this week. Jan beans finished 6½ cents lower and the July contract finished 5¼ cents lower. Weekly export sales data for the 2017-18 Soybean marketing year came in at 0.942 mmt vs. trade expectations that ranged from 0.8-1.2 mmt. Sales for 2018-19 marketing year came in at 1.017 mmt vs. trade expectations that ranged 0-0.1 mmt. Two private export sales were reported to the USDA via their daily reporting system. The first was 525,000 metric tons of Soybeans for delivery during the 2017-18 marketing year to China and the other was for 132,000 metric tons of Soybeans for delivery to unknown destinations for the 2017-18 marketing year. Chicago December Wheat traded 7¼ cents lower on the day. The Wheat markets moved higher in early intraday trading but return to weakness after topping in the middle of the trading day. US All Wheat export sales came in at 184,400 metric tons for the 2017-18 marketing year compared to trade analysts’ expectations that ranged from 250,000 – 450,000 metric tons. The sales figure for the 2018-19 marketing year came in at 3,000 metric tons.
