Beans Continue to Retreat Overnight
Jan 24, 2013
Soybean futures lost more ground overnight weighed by profit-taking and signs of potential rains in Argentina. Front-month March futures sank to $14.27, off 13 cents over night while corn and wheat were off 4 cents and 1-cent respectively.
March futures failed to hold above its 200-day moving average near $14.47 a bushel on Wednesday which helped kick in selling pressure. Weather models are beginning to point to better chances of rain in coming days for dry parts of Argentina. In Brazil, light rains are expected over the western region in coming days as harvesting picks up pace, while the southern producing states remain mostly dry.
In corn, the market will closely watch EIA’s weekly ethanol number which is to be released this morning. The EIA's report last week showed U.S. ethanol production had slowed to a 2-1/2 year low at 784,000 barrels per day.
For wheat, overnight the Taiwan Flour Millers' Association issued a tender to purchase 78,670 tons of milling wheat to be sourced from the United States. The US Southern Plains shows little change in the persistent drought gripping the region with the next 48 hours likely to bring no meaningful precipitation from Texas through Nebraska. In Australia, temperatures of 104 degrees are causing concerns about excessive dryness during wheat planting.
