May 11, 2007

 

Argentina's soy and corn prices down following weaker CBOT

 

 

Argentine corn and soy prices were down on the week at the Rosario Grain Exchange on Thursday (May 10) following declines at the Chicago Board of Trade and high spot supplies due to the rapid harvest of the crops, according to analysts.

 

Volume was low with farmers hesitant to sell at the low values and buyers waiting for supply to increase as the bulk of the new crops come to market, according to the exchange.

 

 

Corn

 

Spot corn was traded at 340 pesos (US$110.32) a tonne in Rosario Thursday, down from 365 pesos a week ago. Volume was estimated at 2,000 tonnes.

 

April 2008 corn closed at US$111 a tonne, down from US$119 a week ago.

 

Lower prices at the CBOT and high spot supply pushed down corn prices despite the reopening of corn exports this week, the exchange said.

 

On Tuesday, the government reopened the corn export registry for 3 million   tonnes. The registry had been closed since November due to soaring export commitments.

 

Some 1.3 million tonnes of export commitments have been declared so far this week, according to the exchange.

 

At the time of the closure, corn exporters had declared new-crop export commitments of 10.06 million tonnes. Argentina is expected to produce 22 million   tonnes of corn from the 2006/07 crop, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

 

With domestic consumption estimated at 7-8 million tonnes of corn a year, mainly for use as animal feed, some 5 million tonnes may still be available for export from the 2006/07 crop, according to analysts.

 

 

Soy

 

Spot soy closed at 582 pesos a tonne at the Rosario Grain Exchange Thursday, down from 590 pesos from a week ago. Spot volume was estimated at 15,000 tonnes. May 2008 soy closed at US$200 per tonne, unchanged from last week.

 

 

Wheat

 

January 2008 wheat slipped US$2 from last week to close at US$130 a tonne. Spot wheat closed at ARS370 per tonne, unchanged from last week.