December 16, 2005

 

Argentina's corn prices up but soybean ended lower

 

 

Argentina's cash soybean prices were down Thursday from a week ago after declines in futures prices at the CBOT pushed local values lower, traders said. Cash corn prices, however, were up after gains earlier in the week lifted prices beyond last week's levels.

 

Soybeans sold for ARS510 (US$171) per tonne Thursday at the Rosario Cereals Exchange, up from about ARS500 a week ago. The Rosario Exchange is Argentina's top cash market.

 

May soy futures sold for US$164/tonne.

 

"The drop in futures at the CBOT led local buyers to lower their offers and that had an impact on volume," the Exchange said in its daily commentary. "In Chicago soybeans led the declines amid a lack of positive news. Weekly US exports were disappointing for prices while there was little buying from China."

 

Volume was relatively high late last week and earlier this week as farmers took advantage of higher prices.

 

"We may have traded 250,000 tonnes to 300,000 tonnes over the past couple of weeks," said Federico Mircoli, a trader with the brokerage Granos del Parana. "China is buying January soy from Argentina and February and March soy from Brazil."

 

Meanwhile, climatic conditions in South America have improved and fresh rain is expected over the next few days in Argentina's main soybean-producing region, lifting expectations for a good harvest.

 

Around 6,000 tonnes of soy were traded in Rosario Thursday, according to the Rosario Exchange.

 

By Saturday, farmers had planted 74.5 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.

 

As of Dec 14, Argentina had sold 9.596 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 1,366,480 tonnes by Dec 14.

 

 

Corn

 

Cash corn sold for ARS215/tonne Thursday in Rosario, up from ARS210/tonne a week ago.

 

Between 8,000 tonnes and 10,000 tonnes of corn traded hands in Rosario, the Exchange said. At least one trader offered US$72/tonne for March 2005-06 futures, up from US$70 a week ago.

 

Farmers had sown 84.4 percent of the 2005-06 corn crop by Saturday, according to the Buenos Aires Exchange.

 

The USDA sees Argentina's 2005-06 corn output at 17.3 million tonnes, down from 19.5 million tonnes a year earlier.

 

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 Dec 9, Argentina had sold 12.845 million tonnes of 2004-05 corn for export, up from 10.01 million tonnes a year earlier, Secretariat data show.