Print Print edition: 2017-01-12

US FOB Gulf corn offers mostly firm

Published January 12, 2017 Updated January 12, 2017 12:00am

Export premiums for corn shipped from the US Gulf Coast were steady to mostly firm on Tuesday, supported by moderate demand for competitively priced US supplies, traders said. Traditional US corn customers including Japan, Mexico and Colombia have inquired about prices for springtime shipments this week, traders said.
The US Department of Agriculture on Tuesday confirmed private sales of 130,000 tonnes of old-crop US corn to Taiwan along with 91,300 tonnes of old-crop corn and 150,300 tonnes of new-crop corn to unknown destinations. Excessive rains in parts of Argentina have delayed corn seeding and lifted prices, allowing US shipments to remain competitive on the world market, traders said.
US Gulf soyabean export premiums were flat on limited demand amid narrowing Chinese crush margins and the approaching harvest of a bumper South American crop. Brazil's Conab on Tuesday raised its soyabean crop forecast for the country to a record 103.8 million tonnes. The agency also increased its corn crop forecast to 84.5 million tonnes, up from the prior forecast. Soya crushers in China have slowed import purchases in recent weeks as crush margins have thinned and as stockpiles are ample. Wheat export premiums were quietly steady. Late January corn shipments from the Gulf were offered around 60 cents a bushel over Chicago Board of Trade March futures, which closed 1-3/4 cents lower at $3.58-1/4 a bushel.