Grains rallied again overnight as Nov beans cleared the $9.80 hurdle heading into the morning break. In outside markets, the US dollar continued to erode and crude oil prices were above $46 a barrel.
Private analysts continue to weigh in on the US crop size ahead of Monday’s USDA crop production report. Yesterday Linn Group pegged the US corn yield at 171.5, well below USDA’s August forecast of 175.1. For soybeans, they expect a yield of 49.6 bushels per acre versus USDA’s previous forecast of 48.9. Planalytics final forecast for the season was also announced as 171.1 and 49.6.
In overnight news, a South Korea feed buyer bought 69,000 MT of optional origin corn. Algeria bought between 300,000 and 400,000 tonnes of optional-origin milling wheat in a tender on Wednesday, paying around $197 a tonne. Some traders put the volume higher at 500,000 tonnes. Algeria, one of the world's largest grain importers, does not publish details of its tenders and results reported by traders are estimates.The wheat was expected to be sourced from several origins, reflecting reduced availability in Algeria's traditional supplier France after a poor harvest, traders said, citing the UK, Germany, Poland and the United States as possible choices alongside France.
China imported 7.67 MMT of soybeans in August, down 1.2% from 7.76 million tonnes in July, figures from the General Administration of Customs of China showed. China is also expected to see a smaller corn crop in 2015 as farmers there planted few acres in response to a subsidy elimination by the Chinese government. Production is expected to be off 2% from last year.
Oil prices rose 60 cents a barrel on Thursday after U.S. industry data showed a large drawdown in crude stocks, reflecting the temporary impact of an Atlantic storm. U.S. crude stocks fell by 12.1 million barrels last week, data from API showed after the market settled on Wednesday, compared with expectations for an increase of about 200,000 barrels.
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