Grains were down in the overnight session while the US Dollar shot sharply higher. Crude oil was also off in the night trade.
USDA this morning announced 175,000 MT of milo to China, 324,000 MT of soybeans to China and 132,000 MT of soybeans to unknown destinations.
Chinese soybean futures tumbled 5% on Monday, extending a decline that started in evening trade on Friday on talk of government measures to crack down on speculation. China has implemented a series of fee hikes in recent months to crack down on speculative trading it suspects is behind a surge in everything from coal to rubber, which helped drive capital out of the commodities market. Talk that the government could take more measures to curb speculation led institutional investors to pull out of the market, sparking a sell-off in soybean, soymeal and rapemeal futures.
Overnight, the Korea Feed Association (KFA) purchased about 63,000 MT of corn which can be sourced from optional origins in a tender which closed on Thursday. Also, Tunisia bought 100,000 MT of soft white wheat, also optional origin.
In South American weather, weekend rains were beneficial to N.Brazil with ongoing rains expected through the next 2 weeks. Central Brazil has some noted dryness in key corn/soy regions. Showers ease this week in the rain drenched Argentina but 11-15 day rain chances return & limit drying.
Oil was lower to start the week hitting its lowest mark in over 3 months, but seemed to find support from China's daily crude oil production in October falling to the lowest in more than seven years. Chinese producers remain reluctant to drill new wells amid tepid oil prices and as output drops from aging wells.
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