Moderate to heavy weekend rain stalls Midwest/Delta corn and soybean seeding, locally 4 to 8 inches in S Missouri/N Arkansas/C & SW Illinois/NW Indiana. Nearly a week of drying ahead then allows recovery in most of the Midwest; limits risk for standing water in corn and wheat. 11-15 day rains favor W Midwest; far S Midwest/Delta dry out after next Wednesday to limit wetness concerns. Warmer but wetter start to 11-15 day still slows early seeding in parts of N Plains; some improvement in Canada.
The Brazilian farmer’s reluctance to sell newly harvested soybeans may have finally paid off for US soybean merchants, who could be in for some better-than-expected export sales in the coming months. --Reuters
By the end of March, Brazilian farmers had sold 49% of their soybean crop, the lowest in seven years and well behind the five-year average of 63%, according to consultancy AgRural. And, although the country’s harvest is nearly complete, farmers are still holding on to their beans, hoping for prices to rise. Brazil is the world’s leading supplier of soybeans, shipping the majority of their product to top-consumer, China. The US is a close second in terms of export volume, and it often competes with Brazil for business depending on prices, logistics and domestic supply.
A Chinese consumer backlash against genetically modified (GMO) crops is beginning to dent demand for soy oil, the nation’s main cooking oil, and could spell crisis for the multi-billion-dollar crushing industry, which depends on GMO soybeans from the US and elsewhere.
Soyoil sales account for about 36% of cooking oils used in Chinese kitchens, more than three times the next highest, and most of it is made from imported soybeans, which are nearly all genetically modified.
Oil prices rebounded on Friday after dropping to a one-month low the previous day, prompting investors to buy at cheaper levels ahead of a May OPEC meeting at which producers could extend output cuts.
Optimism is rising about the prospect of a year-long production curb deal, with most analysts polled by Reuters expecting the accord between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and the non-OPEC producers, struck at the end of the last year, to be extended to the end of the year.
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