Soybeans (Source: CME)
US soybean futures ended slightly lower as traders consolidated positions ahead of Thursday's USDA crop reports. Prices struggled to find direction amid trader unwillingness to take on risk ahead of the data, which will give updates on US demand and South American production. Mild pressure was derived from a stronger dollar and crop-enhancing rains moving through South American growing areas. CBOT March soybeans ended down 1/2c at $12.31 1/2 a bushel.
Soybean Meal/Oil (Source: CME)
Soy product futures end mixed, with soyoil futures continuing to gain value in the crush spread vs meal. Traders are unwinding long soymeal/short soyoil positions, with soyoil garner support from firm crude oil prices and optimistic outlooks for increased demand for soyoil used in biodiesel production, analysts say. CBOT March soyoil ended up 0.41c to 52.58c/lb, and March soymeal ended down $3.70 at $321.70/short ton.
Argentine Drought Over After Series Of Storms Soak Fields (Source: CME)
The drought testing Argentina's developing soybeans is over and prospects are looking brighter for the crop, Rosario Grain Exchange said. A series of storms over the past two weeks have soaked virtually all the fields in the central farm belt, the exchange said. "The prospects for the soy crop have significantly improved," the exchange said. However, analysts warn that the crop has already suffered some damage and that more rain will be needed through February. Analysts are predicting 2011-12 soybean production of between 45 million and 49.5 million metric tons--well short of the record 54.5 million tons harvested in the 2009-10 season. Argentina leads soyoil and soymeal exports and ranks third in global soybean exports. Worries over the crop has helped buoy global soybean prices in recent weeks.
Argentina is also the world's second-largest corn exporter. The corn crop has already suffered major losses with potential production down by over a third. Early in the season, many had expected production to top 30 million tons. Now, the Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange is predicting corn output of just 22 million tons.
Palm oil hits one-week high after break, USDA report eyed
SINGAPORE, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil edged up as the market reopened after a two-day break, tracking broader markets such as soyoil, although gains were limited by investor caution ahead of a key U.S. crop report.
"Last week's low was most likely to be the bottom. The market's also higher today, with China buying more in coming months to replenish stocks after the Lunar New Year," said a dealer with a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur.
Rains this week may stanch Argentine soy losses
BUENOS AIRES, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Rains this week in Argentina may stanch soy losses after a drought chopped yields by an estimated 20 percent and took as much as 30 percent off the corn crop in the global food supplier, forecasters said on Tuesday.
Storms are expected to sweep the country's Pampas agricultural area on Wednesday. As global grains stocks tighten, Argentine growers as well as government beancounters and sovereign bondholders hope the rain refreshes soy crops baked by what has been an unforgiving Southern Hemisphere summer sun.
Paraguay soy crop seen down 45 pct due to drought
ASUNCION, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Paraguay's soy output is expected to plunge 45 percent from last year due to a drought that hit crops across the region, a bigger loss than previously forecast, a soy farmers group said on Tuesday.
The estimate by the UGP association points to 2011/12 production of 4.6 million tonnes compared with a record 8.4 million tonnes last season in Paraguay, the world's No. 4 soy exporter.
China to raise imports of U.S. soybeans -Oil World
HAMBURG, Feb 7 (Reuters) - China, the world's largest soybean buyer, is likely to increase its soybean imports from the United States in coming weeks due to a poor domestic crop and drought in South America, Hamburg-based oilseeds analysts Oil World said on Tuesday.
"Additional (U.S.) purchases are very likely to be made in the next few weeks, primarily when a Chinese top-level delegation will visit the United States and sign trade agreements including U.S. soybeans and probably grains," Oil World said. "The severe drought damage in South America will raise China's dependence on U.S. soybeans in 2012."
Malaysian exporters halt palm oil supply to Iran -sources
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil exporters have stopped supplying most of the 30,000 tonnes of the food staple Iran used to buy each month from the Southeast Asian producer as fresh Western financial curbs on Tehran stymie payment procedures, two trading sources said.
The halt in Malaysia's palm oil exports, which the traders said started late last year, is the latest sign that sanctions aimed at persuading Iran to abandon a suspected nuclear weapons programme have started to bite.
Dutch industry body sees flat 2012 palm oil demand
AMSTERDAM, Feb 7 (Reuters) - EU palm oil imports will be steady in 2012 as the economic downturn offsets attractive prices, and more biodiesel producers are expected to go under, a head of the Dutch industry body told Reuters on Tuesday.
Frans Claassen, head of the Dutch Board for Margarine, Fats and Oils, said that demand in the European Union for palm oil is likely to remain around 5.5 million tonnes in 2012, the same as in 2011.
No comments:
Post a Comment