Headlines:

  • ADM, Cargill Still Pursue Syngenta Over China GMO Corn Rejections
    Syngenta AG moved closer to putting a troubled biotech corn seed launch behind it with a $1.5 billion settlement with farmers this week, but grain traders who filed two remaining lawsuits may be less ready to compromise, legal experts said. The company was sued three years ago by the farmers and traders who said they suffered financial losses over its decision to commercialize a genetically modified (GMO) corn strain known as Agrisure Viptera before China approved it for import. Its settlement this week with farmers cost it more than half its annual profits and came after it lost a case in Kansas and had to pay $217.7 million in damages to over 7,000 farmers. Two lawsuits brought by U.S. grain traders Cargill Inc and Archer Daniels Midland Co against the seed company, which is now owned by Chinese chemicals firm ChemChina, are still pending.
  • IGC ups world grains harvest to second largest on record
    The International Grains Council lifted its estimate for the world grains harvest to the second largest on record, citing improved ideas on wheat and, especially, corn production. The intergovernmental group raised by 20m metric tons to 2.069bn metric tons its estimate for world production of wheat and coarse grains, such as barley, corn and sorghum, in 2017-18.  The upgrade raised the figure above the 2014 total to the second highest harvest ever, behind only the 2.133bn metric tons produced last season. Some 6m metric tons of the upgrade was down to wheat, for which output was now pegged at 748m metric tons, boosted by improved ideas of Russia’s harvest, and halving to 6m metric tons the shortfall behind last season’s record crop. Corn output was pegged at 1.029bn metric tons, a 12m-tonne upgrade, “mainly because of adjustments to Argentina and the US”, the IGC said. While increased expectations for demand were seen swallowing up part of the extra output, the IGC raised its forecast for overall world grain inventories at the close of 2017-18 by 12m metric tons to 496m metric tons. The revision reduced to 28m metric tons the expected drop in world inventories over this season.

Summary:

The neutral see-saw battle that we have been expected ahead of tomorrow’s USDA Quarterly Stocks Report is still in play. Over the course of the week we have oscillated from positive to negative often with marginally displacement. Despite the weekly export sales and yield reports today, the anticipation of a bearish Quarterly report tomorrow has weighed to heavy on the potential for strong gains this week.

Weekly Corn export came in at 320k metric tons which was well below trade expectations. Soybean came in at 2.99 million metric tons far exceeding trade expectations. Wheat was pegged at 435.6k metric tons which was just shy of the top end of trade expectations. Additionally, private exporters reported 132k metric tons of Soybeans for delivery to unknown destinations for the 2017-18 marketing year and 233.8k metric tons of Corn for delivery to unknown destinations for the 2017-18 marketing year.