U.S. Remains the Most Reliable Source For Soybeans

* China buying more old-crop U.S. beans. There were rumors late Wednesday China had purchased another two to four cargoes of U.S. old-crop soybeans. Chinese end-users are turning to U.S. soybeans to meet near-term needs as the wait to ship soybeans out of the China is currently around 40 days -- and growing as ships stack up at ports. Industry sources say China can get beans from the U.S. in less than three weeks. The U.S. is the most reliable supplier of soybeans to China at this time. As a result, there’s likely to be near-term Chinese purchases of U.S. soybeans. The long and short of it: Chinese demand will keep old-crop soybean futures well supported until Brazilian supplies are actively flowing onto the world market. * Argentina to ship more old-crop soybeans. Bloomberg reports Argentina plans to ship 2 MMT of 2011-12 soybeans in the next 20 to 30 days. The 15 largest exporters met with Argentina’s trade secretary, at his request, on Wednesday and outlined their plans. Pro Farmer South American consultant Dr. Cordonnier says the government wants farmers to sell their old-crop supplies because it needs the revenue from export taxes. The government has been trying to intimidate farmers into selling old-crop soybeans by doing audits at local elevators and on farms, looking for discrepancies as to how much a farmer has sold compared to what he has reported to the government. The long and short of it: The Argentine government and exporters are looking to take advantage of shipping delays in neighboring Brazil. * Delivery starts for March contracts. Today is first notice day, the start of the delivery process, for March grain and soy futures. There were no deliveries again corn, soybeans and soymeal. Chicago wheat had 119 deliveries, while soyoil had deliveries against 2,932 contracts. The long and short of it: This will remain a quiet delivery period, especially for corn and soybeans as the cash market is strong, while registrations are few to no registrations.