Corn (Source: CME)
US corn futures end lower on worries about the world economy and poor export demand. Fears about Europe's debt crisis and a potential downturn in China weighed on markets broadly. Corn's downward trend has prompted speculative selling, traders note, and weak exports are also weighing. However, US supplies are still seen as tight. CBOT December corn ends down 10 1/4c at $5.88 3/4 per bushel.
Wheat (Source: CME)
US wheat futures stumble further thanks to poor demand and ongoing outside-market pressure. Prices hit 5-month lows, with the greatest losses in nearby futures, particularly in Chicago. Poor export demand looms, as does worry about the global economy, with concerns about Europe and China in the spotlight. CBOT December wheat ends down 2.4% at $5.79 1/4 a bushel while KCBT December drops 12c to $6.49 and MGEX December slides 2.8% to $8.35 3/4.
Rice (Source: CME)
US rice futures halt their steep slide, rallying even as most other markets slumped on economic worries and a stronger dollar. After dropping 16% in less than a month, market was due for a bounce. Poor export demand has loomed over the market. Gains come despite losses of more than 2% in wheat and soybeans. Jan. CBOT rice ends up 24c, or 1.7%, to $14.55.
Serbia's 2011-12 Wheat Crop Up 27% With Record Yields - USDA (Source: CME)
Serbia's 2011-12 wheat crop increased 27% on the year to 2 million metric tons with a record high average yield, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Belgrade attache said, due to very favorable weather. This good weather resulted not just in excellent wheat yields--which averaged 4.2 tons a hectare--but also in very good baking quality of wheat flour, the USDA said. However, the USDA added that planting of the country's new wheat crop has been hampered by high temperatures and extremely dry land, with the total planted area eventually likely to remain static on previous years, at around 500,000 hectares. Serbia's corn harvest was completed at the start of November, the USDA said, with total production projected at 6.3 million tons, a fall of 15% on previous estimates due to drought that hit the region. The USDA said the country's corn harvest started earlier than usual this year, as record high temperatures last summer meant the crop was ready ahead of schedule.
Problems with low water on the Danube river meant Serbia exported only 30,000 tons of corn in September, the USDA said, while in October it managed to export 153,933 tons as the situation improved. The majority of Serbian corn is exported along the Danube to Cyprus, Italy, Spain and other European Union countries, while some is exported by trucks to neighboring countries such as Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania.
Soybean prices may get a boost from spec shorts: Maguire
-- Gavin Maguire is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own. To get his real-time views on the market, please join the Global Ags Forum. --
CHICAGO, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Large speculators turned net short in the soybean market last week for the first time since July of 2010, and in so doing bucked a years-long trend by sharply increasing short positions and shedding long exposure at a point in the year when they typically do the opposite.
But the fact that noncommercial traders have gotten net short just as soybean prices hit one-year lows may actually prove to be supportive for the soybean market going forward, as any year-end position squaring will necessarily now require bouts of buying in the form of short-covering.
Soybeans, corn fall on concern China's growth to slow
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 23 (Reuters) - U.S. grains futures fell after a preliminary survey showed China's manufacturing dropped to its lowest in almost three years, stirring concern that Europe's sovereign debt crisis is crimping global economic growth.
"Going forward, global headwinds to growth remain," said Prakriti Sofat, a regional economist at Barclays Capital in Singapore.
S.Africa maize stocks fall to 5.101 mln T in October
JOHANNESBURG, Nov 23 (Reuters) - South Africa's maize stocks fell to 5.101 million tonnes at the end of October compared with a revised 6.04 million tonnes at the end of September, data showed on Wednesday.
The stocks included 3.29 million tonnes of white maize and 1.811 million tonnes of yellow, the South African Grain Information Service (SAGIS) said in its monthly bulletin.
Coffee Supply Crunch Spurring Rebound After Folgers Price Cut: Commodities (Source: Bloomberg)
Coffee’s biggest slump in three years may be ending as weather damages crops from Colombia to Indonesia, reducing U.S. inventories to the lowest since 2000 just as Kraft Foods Inc. and J.M. Smucker Co. cut prices. Stockpiles in warehouses monitored by ICE Futures U.S. fell 16 percent since December, declining for a fourth year, exchange data show. Arabica-coffee futures, already poised for the highest annual average price on record, may rise 15 percent to $2.71 a pound by March, according to the average estimate of 13 traders and analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Prices rallied 7.1 percent from a nine-month low in October as the heaviest rains in two decades damaged Central American plantations, Colombia reported a 19 percent drop in output last month, while exports slowed from Brazil, the world’s top grower. The London-based International Coffee Organization already expects production of arabica, the most-consumed variety, to decline 3.7 percent this year.
Sugar Production to Reach Record in Brazil as Crops Expand (Source: Bloomberg)
Sugar output in Brazil’s Center South, the world’s largest producing region, will jump to a record next year as crops expand and recover from a drought, the head of the country’s largest sugar trading group said. Output will rise to 34 million metric tons next year, Luis Pogetti, chairman of the Copersucar SA trading cooperative that accounts for 10 percent of global sugar exports, said in an interview in Sao Paulo Nov. 21. This year mills in the region produced 30.8 million tons, industry group Unica said Nov. 1. Copersucar is a member of Unica, which will release its first forecast for next year’s crop on Dec. 13. Growers in the Center South, which produces about 90 percent of Brazil’s sugar and ethanol, are renewing and expanding cane crops after freezing weather this year damaged plants that had also been harmed by drought in previous harvests. Brazil, the world’s largest sugar producer, is the source of about 54 percent of global exports of the sweetener, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
ICE sugar, cocoa ease early but hold above lows
LONDON, Nov 23 (Reuters) - ICE sugar, coffee and cocoa futures eased in early trade on Wednesday, weighed by a firmer dollar and widespread losses in other commodity markets linked to deepening global economic woes. Raw sugar futures were slightly lower, hovering just above the prior session's 5-month lows. -
India agrees 1 mln tonnes of sugar exports-minister
NEW DELHI, Nov 22 (Reuters) - India has decided to allow one million tonnes of white sugar exports, Trade Minister Anand Sharma said on Tuesday, double initial expectations from the world's second-biggest producer and sending global prices lower. "We have to balance the interest of farmers, consumers and the industry. There was a demand for three million tonnes but we allowed only one million tonnes, keeping in view the interest of all the stakeholders," Food Minister K. V. Thomas told reporters.
Brazil sugar expansion slows, other origins emerge
SAO PAULO, Nov 22 (Reuters) - The expansion of Brazil's world leading sugar sector to meet growing international demand is set to slow and other origins will emerge as suppliers, delegates at an industry conference said on Tuesday.
Farideh Bromfield, head of commodity research at trade house ED&F Man, said at the Datagro conference that Brazil's roller coaster expansion as a sugar exporter was set to decelerate in the face of buoyant global demand.
Brazil cane industry confronts its output limits
SAO PAULO, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Brazil's once booming cane sector is coming to grips with its own limits and curbing unrealistic expectations, after a frustrating harvest and a still unclear investment environment ahead.
After the years of euphoria that ended with the 2008 global financial crisis, the industry is now adopting a more relaxed approach when talking about prospects for sugar and ethanol production over the next few years. Demand forecasts however remain bright.
Thai cane board chief sees minimal damage from floods
SAO PAULO, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Flooding in Thailand will have a minimal impact on the Thai 2011/12 cane crop, Prasert Tapaneeyangkul, secretary general of the Office of the Cane and Sugar Board said on Tuesday.
He estimated that 3,200 hectares of cane area, equivalent to around 200,000 tonnes of cane, were severely damaged by the floods. Thailand is the world's number 2 sugar exporter after Brazil.
Dubai refinery processes less sugar
SAO PAULO, Nov 22 (Reuters) - The Dubai Al Khaleej refinery is expected to refine 1.3 million tonnes of sugar in calendar 2011, down from 1.5 million in 2010, and the order flow is "not so good," its managing director said on Tuesday.
Asked to comment on the order flow of the Dubai refinery, one of the biggest in the world, Jamal Al Ghurair told Reuters, "It's not so good. People are waiting for (white sugar) prices to go down by at least $60-80 (per tonne) before replenishing their stock."
Euro Coal-Prices rise with oil
LONDON, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Prompt physical coal prices rose by around 50 cents a tonne on Tuesday in line with gains in oil and European power prices but trading activity remained thin.
Brent crude rose on Tuesday as efforts to impose stricter sanctions on Iran hiked the geopolitical fear premium and helped offset worries about economic growth and oil demand.
China Oct coal output up 7.3 pct y/y - report
BEIJING, Nov 22 (Reuters) - China produced 330 million tonnes of coal in October, 7.3 percent more than a year earlier, a report posted on the website of a major state power company showed on Tuesday.
Coal output in the first ten months increased 12.2 percent on year to 3.11 billion tonnes, according to the report on the website (www.cgdc.com.cn) of China Guodian Corp, citing data from the China Coal Transportation and Distribution Association.
Italy 2011 coal imports seen up 7 pct
MILAN, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Italy, Europe's third-biggest coal buyer, is expected to raise imports by 7 percent this year, driven by demand from steel makers, a top industry official told Reuters on Monday.
"2011 has been a good year," Andrea Clavarino, chairman of Italy's coal operators body Assocarboni, said in a telephone interview. "We forecast an increase in imports to Italy by about 7 percent."
S.Korea's Oct crude imports rise on strong refining margins
SEOUL, Nov 23 (Reuters) - South Korea's October crude imports rose 8.3 percent from a year ago, biggest gain since July, on robust refining margins while a healthy regional demand for oil products is expected to keep shipments at elevated levels till the end of the year.
But traders cautioned that imports by the world's fifth largest crude buyer could come under pressure early next year as refining margins are weighed down by a grim outlook for the global economy.
Syrian oil output down 2.4 pct Jan-Sept
BEIRUT, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Syria's crude oil production fell 2.4 percent in the first nine months of the year to 103.3 million barrels, or 378,000 barrels per day, according to figures published by state media.
The relatively small decrease in production, despite an eight-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, will be little comfort to authorities now struggling to deal with European Union sanctions on Syrian oil which came into effect this month.
Brent oil falls near $108 as U.S., China growth slows
SINGAPORE, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Brent crude fell near $108 as data from the United States and China showed a slowdown in economic growth, stoking fears of weaker demand from the world's two largest oil users.
"The short-term reaction will be negative, but China will probably start monetary easing measures that will be positive for commodities in the medium term," ANZ analyst Natalie Robertson said.
Don't bet on big fall in oil - even with slowdown
LONDON, Nov 22 (Reuters) - With debt crises either side of the Atlantic, Europe flirting with recession and Libyan oilfields returning to production, it is tempting to be bearish on oil.
Tempting but risky.
Despite all the financial and economic gloom, 2011 has been a record year for oil with Brent crude at its highest-ever average above $110 per barrel, and few analysts forecast a big drop in price, even those who expect an economic slowdown.
Oil Extends Decline After Disappointing German Bond Auction, U.S. Orders (Source: Bloomberg)
Oil dropped for a second day in New York after an unsuccessful bond auction in Germany and falling orders for durable goods in the U.S. stoked speculation that global demand for fuel will falter. Futures slipped as much as 0.6 percent after falling yesterday to the lowest settlement in two weeks. Germany failed to find buyers for 35 percent of bonds at an auction. U.S. orders for goods meant to last at least three years fell in October, the second straight decline. Oil pared losses yesterday after the Energy Department reported inventories fell to a 21- month low. “The German bond issue was a disaster,” said David McAlvany, chief executive officer of McAlvany Financial Group in Durango, Colorado. “The oil inventory numbers are less important than the larger economic picture.”
Indonesia Tin Association to Ask Timah to Stop Shipments to Support Prices (Source: Bloomberg)
The Indonesia Tin Association will ask PT Timah (TINS), the world’s largest exporting company, to stop all shipments to support global prices, said Johan Murod, general secretary of the producer group. Twenty-six companies agreed to keep a spot export ban until the yearend at a meeting yesterday, Murod said in an interview. Timah and PT Koba Tin were not present, he said. Two calls each to the mobile phones of Timah President Director Wachid Usman and Corporate Secretary Abrun Abubakar weren’t answered. “We’ll ask Timah to stop all shipments because if they’re still exporting, even if it’s only to their contracted buyers, the ban won’t be effective in increasing the price,” said Murod.
Iron Ore-Spot prices drop as China buying stalls
SINGAPORE, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Iron ore fell for a second time in three sessions and offer prices dropped further on Wednesday as Chinese steel mills stepped away from the spot market, finding no urgency to buy the raw material amid sluggish steel demand.
Having replenished iron ore inventories over the past three weeks, Chinese steel producers are holding back on more purchases, halting a rally that has lifted spot iron ore prices by 24 percent this month after a 31 percent slump in October.
Italy 10-month steel output up 11.5 pct-industry
MILAN, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Steel output in Italy, the European Union's second-biggest producer after Germany, rose 11.5 percent year-on-year to 24.036 million tonnes in the first 10 months of 2011, industry body Federacciai said on Monday.
In October alone, Italy's steel output rose 9.6 percent to 2.700 million tonnes, according to data published on Federacciai's website.
Baltic index falls again, earning to stay pressured
LONDON, Nov 22 (Reuters) - The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, which tracks rates to ship dry commodities, fell for a third session on Tuesday as the pace of cargo demand slowed and world economy worries worsened.
The overall index fell 20 points or 1.07 percent to 1,854 points.
