Highlights
NOPA Crush beats expectations
Corn export sales at record pace
Rosario Grains Exchange lowers production est again
EXPORTERS SELL 20,000 METRIC TONS OF SOYBEAN OIL FOR DELIVERY TO UNKNOWN DESTINATIONS DURING THE 2017/2018 MARKETING YEAR- USDA
Argentina
Weather forecast unchanged with rain expected this weekend.
Rosario Grains Exchange lowered its Argentina corn and soybean production estimates.
Soybean production estimate revised to 40 MMT from 46.5 MMT. (Mar USDA @ 47 MMT)
Corn production estimate revised to 32 MMT from 35 MMT. (Mar USDA @ 36 MMT)
Brazil
Weather forecast unchanged with scattered showers causing some fieldwork delays until next Wednesday.
Rio Grande do Sul which has been dry is expected to get precipitation over the weekend and into Tuesday.
NOPA Crush Beats Estimates
NOPA February crush beat expectations on Thursday by reporting that members processed 153.719 million bushels of soybeans in February compared to analyst estimates of 149.443 million bushels.
This is the largest February crush on record with the next closest February in 2010 when 148.351 million bushels were crushed.
Large February crush was driven by unexpectedly strong processing margins triggered by drought in Argentina.
Soyoil stocks increased to 1.856 billion pounds compared to analysts estimates of 1.766 bln lbs.
Weekly Export Sales
The latest export sales report on Thursday showed the strongest weekly corn sales for a single marketing year in 23 years.
U.S corn export sales are expected to stay strong into the summer as drought in Argentina limits competition.
Brazil corn exports don’t typically come on line until August when second crop corn is harvested. JBS recently purchased Argentina corn to import into Brazil.
Argentina corn offers are currently $3.50 per metric ton over the U.S. Gulf and Ukraine corn is offered $17.50 per ton higher.
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