September 8, 2006

 

Argentina cash corn prices unchanged; soy up slightly

 

 

Cash corn sold for ARS270 per tonne Thursday (Sep 7) in Rosario, unchanged from a week ago. Around 40,000 tonnes were traded, compared with 60,000 a week ago.

 

Corn futures for delivery in Mar 2007 sold for US$87/tonne, also unchanged from last Thursday.

 

Corn prices dipped midweek, but solid demand from exporters pushed values back up, Roagro analyst Carlos Boglioli said in an email market summary.

 

High local demand for animal feed is also supporting local corn prices, fyo.com said in a market commentary.

 

Corn seeding has begun in several provinces, aided by moderate rains in some areas. As of Sep 1, 1.9 percent of the 2006/07 corn crop had been planted, 0.9 points higher than at this time last year, the Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange said.

 

The exchange estimated that 2.47 million hectares will be planted with 2006/07 corn, up 5 percent from last year.

 

The Agriculture Secretariat sees 3.2 million to 3.3 million hectares planted with corn during the 2006/07 crop cycle.

 

The US Department of Agriculture estimates that Argentina will produce 17.5 million tonnes of corn during 2006/07.

 

Forward export commitments for corn are also high and there will likely be tight supplies in December, Mircoli said.

 

New-crop export commitments totalled 2.25 million tonnes as of Sep 5, according to the Agriculture Secretariat. This is over four times the pace of new-crop export commitments at this time last year, according to fyo.com

 

As of Sep 4, Argentina had sold 7.28 million tonnes of 2005/06 corn for export, compared with 10.195 million tonnes of 2004/05 corn at this time last year, according to the Secretariat.

 

Malaysia has been the principal buyer of Argentina's 2005/06 corn crop, importing 1.3 million tonnes, followed by Chile with 900,000 tonnes and Algeria with 620,000 tonnes.

 

There are 1.2 million tonnes of 2005/06 corn left for export sale, according to fyo.com.

 

 

Soy

 

Cash soybeans sold for ARS517/tonne, up slightly from ARS515 a week ago.

 

Just 5,000 tonnes of soybeans were traded Thursday in Rosario, compared to 30,000 tonnes a week earlier.

 

Soy futures with delivery in May 2007 rose to US$168/tonne compared with US$167/tonne last week.

 

The USDA has estimated Argentina's 2005/06 soybean crop at a record 41.3 million tonnes while the Agriculture Secretariat sees output at 40.5 million tonnes.

 

The Buenos Aires Exchange put 2005/06 soybean production at 40.75 million tonnes.