Global Ag News for June 2nd

GLOBAL AG HEADLINES

Wheat prices overnight are up 5 1/2 in SRW, up 6 1/2 in HRW, up 19 3/4 in HRS; Corn is up 2 1/4; Soybeans up 12 1/2; Soymeal up $0.29; Soyoil up 0.95.

For the week so far wheat prices are up 35 1/2 in SRW, up 30 3/4 in HRW, up 63 3/4 in HRS; Corn is up 34; Soybeans up 29 1/4; Soymeal up $0.58; Soyoil up 2.51.

For the month to date wheat prices are up 35 1/2 in SRW, up 30 3/4 in HRW, up 63 3/4 in HRS; Corn is up 34 1/4; Soybeans up 30 1/2; Soymeal up $6.10; Soyoil up 2.55.

Chinese Ag futures (SEP 21) Soybeans up 96 yuan ; Soymeal up 26; Soyoil up 120; Palm oil up 114; Corn up 27 — Malasyian Palm is up 197. Malaysian palm oil prices overnight were up 197 ringgit (+5.06%) at 4088 bouncing back as its widening spread to rival soyoil attracted fresh buyers, with investors weighing the tropical oil’s supply situation in second-biggest grower Malaysia.

Midwest corn, soybean and winter wheat forecasts: West: Isolated showers Tuesday-Wednesday. Mostly dry Thursday-Saturday. Temperatures near to below normal Tuesday, above normal north and near to below normal south Wednesday, near to above normal Thursday, above to well above normal Friday-Saturday. East: Isolated showers Tuesday. Scattered showers Wednesday-Thursday. Mostly dry Friday-Saturday. Temperatures near normal Tuesday-Wednesday, near to above normal Thursday-Friday, above to well above normal Saturday. 6 to 10 day outlook: Mostly dry Sunday. Scattered showers Monday-Thursday, mostly west. Temperatures above to well above normal Sunday-Thursday.

The player sheet had funds net sellers of 15,000 contracts of SRW Wheat; buyers of 35,000 corn, buyers of 12,500 soybeans, buyers of 2,500 Soymeal, and; net buyers of 7,000 lots of Soyoil.

Preliminary changes in futures Open Interest as of June 1 were: SRW Wheat up 423 contracts, HRW Wheat down 286, Corn up 5,224, Soybeans up 2,521, Soymeal down 1,830, Soyoil up 6,408.

There were changes in registrations (-35 Soyoil). Registration total: 20 SRW Wheat contracts; 16 Oats; 0 Corn; 13 Soybeans; 968 Soyoil; 442 Soymeal; 1,249 HRW Wheat.

TENDERS

• WHEAT SALE: Saudi Arabia’s state grain organisation (SAGO) has agreed to buy 562,000 tonnes of wheat for delivery between August and September at $299.55 average price per tonne, it said on Monday.
• DURUM WHEAT SALE: Algeria’s state grains agency OAIC is believed to have purchased at least 200,000 tonnes of durum wheat to be sourced from optional origins in a tender which closed last week.
• FEED WHEAT TENDER: Indonesia’s state procurement agency Bulog has issued an international tender to buy and import about 240,000 tonnes of animal feed wheat.
• MILLING WHEAT TENDER: Iranian state agency the Government Trading Corp (GTC) has issued an international tender to purchase about 60,000 tonnes of milling wheat.
• SOYOIL, SUNOIL TENDERS: Iran’s state purchasing agency GTC has issued international tenders for the purchase of 30,000 tonnes of soyoil and 30,000 tonnes of sunflower oil.

PENDING TENDERS

• FEED WHEAT TENDER: Indonesia’s state procurement agency Bulog issued an international tender to buy and import about 180,000 tonnes of animal feed wheat.
• WHEAT TENDER: Bangladesh’s state grains buyer issued an international tender to purchase 50,000 tonnes of milling wheat.
• FEED WHEAT AND BARLEY TENDER: Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) said it will seek 80,000 tonnes of feed wheat and 100,000 tonnes of feed barley to be loaded by Sept. 30 and arrive in Japan by Nov. 25, via a simultaneous buy and sell (SBS) auction that will be held on June 2.

 JBS Poised to Reopen Most Meat Plants Hobbled by Cyberattack (1)

JBS SA, the world’s largest meat producer, has made “significant progress” to resolve the cyberattack that hit its global operations and will have the “vast majority” of its plants operational on Wednesday.

“Our systems are coming back online and we are not sparing any resources to fight this threat,” JBS USA Chief Executive Officer Andre Nogueira said in a statement late Tuesday. A union Facebook post said a shift at Greeley in Colorado was set for a regular production day on Wednesday.

The cyberattack forced the shutdown of all of JBS’s U.S. beef plants, which account for almost a quarter of American supplies, according to an official with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, which represents workers at the company’s plants in the U.S. All other JBS meatpacking facilities in the country experienced some level of disruption, according to the official.

Australian Winter Crop to Reach Near-Record in 2021-22: Rabobank

Australia’s winter grain planting will rise 2% y/y in 2021-22 to 22.93 million hectares due to excellent prices, substantial rainfall, and good soil moisture in many parts of the country, Rabobank said in its crop outlook.

PRICE OUTLOOK

• Global prices for most grains and oilseeds to remain elevated over next 12 months due to strong demand and poor seasonal conditions in many other grain-growing regions, Rabobank said
• CBOT wheat futures will be close to $6.50/bushel out to 1Q 2022, then rise marginally into 2Q due to tight global corn inventories
• Australian barley prices will continue to be reliant on Saudi and Thai purchases, Cheryl Kalisch Gordon, senior grains analyst, said in the report. With good volumes of new Australian crop expected in 4Q and no expectation of resumption of the barley export program to China in 2021 or 2022, local prices will be kept in check, she said

Brazil May Agriculture, Mining Exports by Volume: MDIC

Following is a summary of key Brazilian agriculture and mining exports by volume, from the Brazilian Trade Ministry.

• Soybean exports rose 16% in May from a year ago, down 6% from April
• Cotton exports rose 66% y/y

U.S. Soybean Crushings at 170M Bushels in April: USDA

USDA releases monthly oilseed report on website.

• Crushing 7.4% lower than same period last year
• Crude oil production 5.1% lower than same period last year
• Crude and once-refined oil stocks down 16.3% y/y

U.S. Corn Used for Ethanol at 410M Bu in April

• Corn for ethanol was 67.4% higher than in April 2020
• DDGS production rose to 1.786m tons

Manitoba Farmers Planted 96% of Crop, Below Four-Year Average

Planting in Manitoba is slightly below the four-year average of 98% after “several” nights of frost last week, provincial government says in crop report Tuesday.

U.S. Inspected 2.049m Tons of Corn for Export, 192k of Soybean

In week ending May 27, according to the USDA’s weekly inspections report.

• Wheat: 256k tons vs 599k the previous wk, 556k a yr ago
• Corn: 2,049k tons vs 1,746k the previous wk, 1,192k a yr ago
• Soybeans: 192k tons vs 222k the previous wk, 452k a yr ago

U.S. Corn, Soybean, Wheat Inspections by Country: May 27

Following is a summary of USDA inspections for week ending May 27 of corn, soybeans and wheat for export, from the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration, known as GIPSA.

• Corn for China-bound shipments made up 1.04m tons of the 2.05m total tons inspected
• Mexico was the top destination for soybean and wheat inspections

SovEcon Sees Russian Wheat Exports at 36.6m Tons in New Season

SovEcon estimates Russian wheat exports at 36.6m tons in its first forecast for the 2021/2022 season, down from 37.7m tons in previous season, consultant says in a report.

Argentina Crop Exporters Sold $3.55b on FX Market Last Month

That’s a record for May in data going back 18 years, Ciara-Cec, Argentina’s crop export and crushing chamber, says in an emailed statement.

 Argentine growers sell 20 mln tonnes of soy in 2020/21 as harvesting ends

Argentine farmers have sold 20 million tonnes of soy from the 2020/21 season, after transactions for 606,000 tonnes were registered over the past week, the Agriculture Ministry said in a report on Tuesday, including data updated through May 26.

With growers finishing this season’s harvest, the rhythm of soybean sales in Argentina is behind that of the previous season, when sales of 23.8 million tonnes had been registered by this date, according to official information.

The soybean harvest is expected at 43.5 million tonnes, according to the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange, versus 49 million tonnes estimated by the exchange to have been brought in during the 2019/20 season.

Sales for 2021/22 soy are at 616,100 tonnes, almost double the amount registered on the same date last year, the ministry said in the report.

Argentina needs export dollars to boost its recession- and inflation-battered economy as the country gets hit by a second wave of coronavirus infections.

Regarding 2020/21 corn, which is also being harvested, the government said in the report that sales had been registered for a total 28.6 million tonnes, 3.2 million tonnes more than those registered by the same date last year.

Malaysia May 1-31 Palm Oil Exports to India 338,669 Tons: SGS

• India imported 338,669 tons; -12.3% m/m
• EU imported 315,961 tons; +0.4% m/m
• China imported 136,505 tons; +7.8% m/m

Bad weather forces Ukrainian ports to restrict grain operations

Half of Ukraine’s major Black Sea ports have restricted grain loading operations because of poor weather, the state seaport authority said on Wednesday.

Argentina Beef Strike Set to End Wednesday

Argentina’s trade strike, which halted deals between ranchers and slaughterhouses to protest a 30-day ban on beef exports, is set to end on Wednesday.

India’s May vegetable oil buying hits record high -govt source

India’s May vegetable oil imports in the month spiked 148% to a record $1.4 billion, a government source told Reuters on Wednesday. The South Asian country is the world’s biggest importer of vegetable oils such as palm oil, sunflower oil and soyoil.

Brazil finalizing rule to pay farmers to preserve land

The Brazilian government is finalizing legislation that will allow farmers to get paid to preserve undeveloped rainforests and savannah, Agriculture Minister Tereza Cristina Dias said during an online event on Tuesday. Dias said the new rules would allow farmers to get paid if they decide not to clear land for agriculture or to raise livestock, even as in some regions of Brazil they would be legally permitted to.

Unfavorable weather conditions lower Malaysia palm oil production – Refinitiv Commodities Research

Localized unfavorable weather conditions lower 2020/21 Malaysia palm oil production to 18.8 [17.8–24.1] million tons, down <1% from last update. Production during May was curbed by localized adverse weather conditions and lesser working days versus April. Malaysia has renewed nationwide lockdowns and tightened safety measures to combat surging COVID-19 cases in the country that has seen daily infections hit continuous record-highs, peaking at above 9,000 cases a day. Production may not be significantly affected nonetheless, as palm oil plantations and palm oil supply chain are allowed to operate during lockdowns.

Seasonal upward yield trend raises Thailand palm oil production – Refinitiv Commodities Research

Seasonal upward yield trend raises 2020/21 Thailand palm oil production to 2.91 [2.50–3.50] million tons, up <1% from last update. According to the Department of Internal Trade (DIT), January-April 2021 production totaled 867 thousand tons, up 10.1% compared to the same period last year.

Indonesia palm oil production prospects unchanged despite recent setback in output – Refinitiv Commodities Research

2020/21 Indonesia palm oil production is maintained at 46.8 [43.3-59.7] million tons, despite the recent setback in output in response to localized adverse weather conditions and lesser working days in May versus April.

POET Buys Koch Unit’s Biofuel Business to Expand Output by 40%

POET, the biggest U.S. biofuels producer, says it bought the ethanol operations of Koch Industries-owned Flint Hills Resources for undisclosed terms.

Andersons’ Ethanol Head Pirolli Exits for Carbon Storage Startup

Jim Pirolli has left his role overseeing the ethanol unit at The Andersons to join Summit Carbon Solutions, an Iowa-based greenhouse-gas storage startup. Pirolli is the firm’s new chief commercial officer, Summit Carbon says in statement. He most recently led biofuel operations at The Andersons, and previously headed ADM’s ethanol trading desk

U.S. Agriculture Sentiment Fell in May: Purdue Univ.

The Purdue University/CME Group’s agricultural sentiment index fell to 158 points in May from 178 in April, according to a survey of 400 agricultural producers.

• Current conditions component declined by 17 points from April
• Future expectations down by 20 points

Implementation of B20 biodiesel mandate in Sabah, Peninsular Malaysia delayed due to pandemic, MCO

The execution of the B20 biodiesel programme in Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia has been postponed, to a date to be decided upon later. Sources with knowledge on the matter said the decision was based on the rise in Covid-19 cases as well as the nationwide Movement Control Order (MCO). “The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the movement of manpower by petroleum companies in the preparation process for biodiesel blending in Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia,” they added.