- Location
- Lincolnshire
- US markets – soy lower on signs of improving Argentine weather – corn up as a new survey from Farm Futures projected corn plantings down 3.5mln ac at 90.4mln – wheat down on firmer US$ and reports that Argentine Ag Ministry had raised its crop forecast to 16.5mln t.
- South American weather – dry weather seen for most of Argentina/Southern Brazil for the 1-5 day forecast. 6-10 days forecast has rain to fall in Southern Brazil.
- BAGE revises lower its estimate for Argentine soy plantings to 19.2mln ha, down from 19.3mln previously. Rosario exchange reduced production estimate to 52.9mln t, down from 54.4mln t after the close.
- Strategie Grains lowered its forecast for the 2017 EU soft wheat harvest by 1.2mln t, to 143.8mln t - factored in expected crop damage to crops in Eastern Europe due to cold weather this month.
- EU soft wheat exports in the 2016-17 season had reached 13.6mln t a/o Jan.17, down 3% from 14.1mlmn t exported at the same point last season.
- IGC raised its forecast for the 2016-17 world corn crop by 3mln t to a record 1.045bln t, mainly reflecting an improved outlook in China. Global stocks increased by 1mln t to 225mln t.
- IGC raised its forecast for the 2016-17 world wheat crop by 3mln t to 752mln t – stocks unchanged at 235mln t.
- UK retail sales in December dropped 1.9% from the previous month according to official figures. However, the December figure was up 4.3% y/y, which may take the shine off recent rise in sterling.
London May ’17 Settle £149.35/t – down £1.40/t from previous close
Paris May ’17 Settle €171.50 – down £0.50/t from previous close
CBOT Mar ’17 Corn Settle $3.6625/bushel – up 1.25c/bushel from previous close
CBOT Mar ’17 Wheat Settle $4.2350/bushel – down 7.50c/bushel from previous close
Currency Today:
GBP EUR 1.1550
GBP US$ 1.2285
EUR GBP 0.8655
EUR USD 1.0640