November 18, 2005

 

Argentina's soy prices down in light trading
 

 

Argentina's cash soybean prices closed lower Thursday from a week ago in light trading as low prices kept farmers away from the market, traders said.

 

Cash soybeans traded for ARS480/tonne (US$1=ARS2.943) Thursday at the Rosario Cereals Exchange, down from ARS500/tonne a week earlier. Rosario is Argentina's top cash market.

 

Trading was so limited Thursday that the Rosario Exchange said it did not even know how many contracts were sold. A week ago between 25,000 and 30,000 tonnes of soybeans were swapped.

 

Exporters offered US$160/tonne for May 2006 soybeans, compared with US$162/tonne a week ago.

 

"Nobody is selling soybeans or corn," said Federico Mircoli, a trader in Tandil, Buenos Aires Province, with the brokerage Granos del Parana. "There is nothing going on. No news. The market is very, very calm and it will be this way until we have some big news about soybean production in Argentina or Brazil. If we got bad news about production in either country, it would reverse the downward trend we've seen recently. Otherwise, prices are going to keep fluctuating within the ARS480 to ARS510 range."

The Exchange said sales were slow because of low prices related to global concern about bird flu and its impact on the demand for bird feed. Abundant supply in the US has also been pushing prices down, the Exchange said.

 

As of Nov 15, Argentina had sold a revised 9.29 million tonnes of 2004-05 soybeans for export, local Agriculture Secretariat data show. By this time a year ago, Argentina had sold 6.77 million tonnes of 2003-04 soy.

 

Sales of 2005-06 soybeans totalled 1,172,880 tonnes by Nov 15.

 

As of Saturday, farmers had planted 32.4 percent of the 2005-06 soybean crop, according to the Buenos Aires Exchange.

 

The Exchange sees planted area this season at 15.6 million hectares, compared with 14.67 million hectares a year earlier.

 

The USDA has forecast Argentina's 2005-06 soybean crop at a record 40.5 million tonnes.

 

 

Corn

 

Cash corn sold for ARS208/tonne Thursday in Rosario, unchanged from ARS208 a week ago.

 

About 3,000 tonnes of corn were sold Thursday in Rosario, down from 5,000 tonnes a week ago.

 

One trader offered US$72/tonne for March 2005-06 futures, down from US$73/tonne a week earlier.

 

Farmers had sown 69 percent of the 2005-06 corn crop by Saturday, according to the Buenos Aires Exchange. The same Exchange has forecast 2005-06 corn output at 17.5 million tonnes, down from 19.5 million a year earlier.

 

The USDA sees Argentina's 2005-06 corn output at 17.5 million tonnes.

 

The Buenos Aires Exchange expects farmers to plant 15.2 percent less corn in 2005-06 than a year ago. It sees planted area at 2.23 million hectares, down from 2.62 million the previous season.

 

As of Nov 11, Argentina had sold 11.705 million tonnes of 2004-05 corn for export, up from 9.07 million a year earlier, Secretariat data show.