February 12, 2010

 

Argentina soy prices track CBOT higher

 

 

Argentine soy prices gained back some of the ground lost in recent weeks, edging higher in line with a rebound at the Chicago Board of Trade.

 

But the gains this week in Argentina were limited by tepid buying from local crushers, the Rosario Grain Exchange said.

 

Spot soy traded at ARS960 (US$249.5) a tonne in Rosario, up from ARS920 (US$239.1) a tonne a week earlier.

 

May 2010 soy futures traded at US$217 and US$218 a tonne, up from US$211 a week ago.

 

Meanwhile corn futures edged slightly higher, although expectations of high yields from the 2009-10 crop limited the gains.

 

March-April corn contracts traded at US$110 and US$113 a tonne, compared with US$110 and US$112 a week ago.

 

Argentina's 2009-10 corn crop will be significantly larger than initially expected due to favourable weather conditions, the Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange said in its weekly crop report Thursday (Feb 11).

 

The exchange raised its forecast for commercial corn to 19.3 million tonnes, up 5% from last week's estimate. That's up 32.5% from last season's drought-battered crop.

 

"Fortunately in the last days of January and the beginning of February, new rainfall set the destiny of a large part of the crop, improving productive potential," the exchange said.

 

Wheat trade remained stalled as farmers wait for buyers to come out with the higher prices agreed with the government.