November 24, 2005

 

Argentina's corn prices down but soybean prices stable

 

 

Argentina's cash corn sold for ARS206/tonne Thursday in Rosario, down from ARS208/tonne a week ago.

 

It was not immediately clear how much corn was sold Wednesday in Rosario, but Pels said few farmers want to sell corn or soybeans at current prices.

 

"Nobody's interested in selling corn or soybeans at these values," he said.

 

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

 

Farmers had sown 72.6 percent of the 2005-06 corn crop by Saturday, according to the Buenos Aires Exchange. The Exchange has also forecast 2005-06 corn output at 17.5 million tonnes, down from 19.5 million tonnes 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 hectares the previous season.

 

As of Nov 18, Argentina had sold 12.225 million tonnes of 2004-05 corn for export, up from 9.37 million tonnes a year earlier, Secretariat data shows.

 

 

Soybeans

 

Cash soybeans traded for ARS480/tonne Wednesday in Rosario, unchanged from the previous week.

 

Trading was light Wednesday in Rosario.

 

"Soy's cash prices are dull," Pels said. "Instead of having big sessions, we have the old crop (2004-05) being sold slowly. Instead of when beans cost ARS700/tonne, when we had 150,000 tonnes sold per day, now we've got like 10,000 tonnes or 20,000 tonnes sold per day. People aren't in love with these prices."

 

Exporters offered US$156/tonne for May 2006 soybeans, compared with US$160/tonne a week ago.

 

As of Nov 21, Argentina had sold a revised 9.29 million tonnes of 2004-05 soybeans for export, local Agriculture Secretariat data shows. By this time a year ago, Argentina had sold 6.77 million tonnes of 2003-04 soy. Sales of 2005-06 soybeans has totalled 1,172,880 tonnes by Nov 21.

 

As of Saturday, farmers had planted 50 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.