SINGAPORE, May 28 (Reuters) - Chicago corn futures climbed 0.9% on Friday with the market poised for a second week of gains as strong demand for the feed grain supported prices.Wheat eased, while soybeans edged higher.FUNDAMENTALS The most-active corn contract on the Chicago Board Of Trade (CBOT) added 0.9% at $6.70-1/2 a bushel by 0006 GMT. The market has climbed 1.6% this
Argentine growers sell 19.4 mln tonnes of 2020/21 soy, lagging 2019/20 tempo
Argentine growers have sold 19.4 million tonnes of soybeans from the current 2020/21 season, after clinching deals for 975,500 tonnes over the last week alone, the Agriculture Ministry said in a report.
The data in the report was updated through May 19.
With farmers hoarding soybeans as a hedge against an anemic local peso, this year’s sales rhythm is slower than last year’s when, by this point in May, farmers had sold 23.2 million tonnes of the oilseed.
Despite strong current agricultural commodity prices, many farmers are opting to save by piling up soybean stocks that can be sold for dollars rather than hold a weakening peso. The currency has weakened 10.94% so far this year to 94.49 per U.S. dollar.
Corn rises, set for second weekly gain on strong Chinese demand
Chicago corn futures rose on Friday, with the market poised for a second weekly gain in a row as strong demand for the feed grain supported prices.
Wheat eased, while soybeans edged higher.
“The move in corn prices will depend on U.S. production and how much more corn China needs to buy,” a Singapore-based grains trader said.
“China has been snapping up U.S. corn cargoes but its future purchases will depend on domestic production and demand.”
The most-active corn contract on the Chicago Board Of Trade (CBOT) added 0.4% at $6.67 a bushel by 0302 GMT, rising for a third straight session. The market has climbed more than 1% this week.
Dryness speeds Argentine soy harvest but poses ‘underestimated’ problem for exports
Argentine soy and corn harvesting is being driven by ideal weather conditions but the lack of rain that is helping farmers bring in crops is also contributing to the shallowness of the Parana River, which has begun to dent agricultural exports.
Lack of navigability on the river, which carries about 80% of Argentine grain exports, is “an underestimated problem” for exporters, German Heinzenknecht, a meteorologist at consultancy Applied Climatology, said on Thursday.
The South American grains powerhouse is the world’s No. 3 corn supplier and top exporter of soymeal livestock feed, used to fatten hogs and poultry from Europe to Southeast Asia.