Corn Resilient in the Face of Lower Beans and Wheat
Feb 26, 2013
Corn prices inched higher in the overnight session adding to Monday’s gains while soybean and wheat price continued to erode. As of this writing, Corn is up 4 cents, while soybeans and wheat are down 3 cents.
For corn, fresh export business on Monday helped keep corn from following beans and wheat lower. USDA announced export sales of 127,000 metric tons of corn for delivery to unknown destinations. Of the total 50,800 tons is for delivery during the 2012/2013 marketing year and 76,200 tons is for delivery during the 2013/2014 crop year.
In the soybean market, prices continue to slide after briefly touching the $15 level last week. Overnight, nearby March traded as low as $14.37 but managed to recover back to the $14.50 area. Brazil continues to see active harvest progress, with 28% of the crop harvested as of Feb. 22, up from 19% a week earlier. Monday USDA announced a 120,000 MT sale of soybeans to China for new-crop 2013/14 delivery.
In wheat, beneficial rains have put the wheat market on the defensive as prices reach their lowest level since June. Monday, the Kansas Ag Statistics Service said on Monday that the crop was rated 23% good to excellent as of Feb. 24, up from 20% a month ago. This second snow storm bearing down now on the Plains should help to improve crop conditions further. Overnight, there was export business as Japan bought 50,000 MT of SRW wheat for feed and Taiwan was looking to buy 96,000 MT of wheat from the US in a tender. Current price levels give the US a distinct edge in the market as US SRW wheat is quoted around $285 a ton, FOB, while India's state-run PEC Ltd last week received the highest bid at $312 per ton in its tender. The cheapest quality of Australian standard wheat is being offered at around $310 a ton.
