Andrey Sizov
13.12.2024
On Thursday, grain prices declined. March SRW wheat closed at $5.58/bu ($205/mt), down 0.9% from Wednesday. March HRW wheat in Kansas fell to $5.63/bu ($207/mt), down 0.8%. March Euronext wheat closed at €229.00/mt ($240/mt), down 0.8%. March U.S. corn dropped to $4.44/bu ($175/mt), down 0.9%.
U.S. corn and soybean export sales fell below market expectations for the week ending Dec. 5, according to USDA data. Exporters sold 0.9 million mt of corn, below the estimated range of 1.1–1.9 million mt, and 1.2 million mt of soybeans, falling short of the 1.5–2.2 million mt range.
Brazil’s Conab agency lowered its corn production estimate for the 2024/25 season by 0.18 million mt to 119.63 million mt. Despite the revision, the estimate remains 3.4% higher than last year’s output.
The province of Córdoba in Argentina has halted corn planting due to a lack of rainfall, the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange reported Thursday. However, 98% of the already planted areas are rated in good to excellent condition. Corn planting is 56% complete.
Rosselkhoznadzor, Russia’s agricultural watchdog, will impose a ban on corn and sunflower seed imports from four companies in Chile, Turkey, France, and Hungary starting mid-December. The agency stated that quarantine pests were detected in agricultural products from these countries.
The Saudi Arabian GFSA agency will hold an international tender on December 13 to purchase approximately RUB 595,000 worth of wheat, sent on Thursday by European traders.
SovEcon projects Russian wheat exports in December 2024 to range between 3.3 and 3.5 million metric tons (MMT), down from 4.1 MMT in November. The month-over-month drop of 17% in Russian wheat exports is attributed to reduced profitability.
