Export premiums for corn at the US Gulf Coast were mostly steady on Friday amid routine demand and rising supplies from a record-large US crop, traders said. US soyabean export premiums were flat in quiet trade following a spike in prices after a bullish US Department of Agriculture report on Friday. US wheat export premiums were unchanged.
USDA on Friday raised its US corn crop estimate to a record high 13.989 billion bushels and soya crop estimate to the third largest ever at 3.258 billion bushels. It also cut global soyabean ending stocks and increased global corn stocks. USDA also increased both US corn and soyabean export forecasts, although corn exports were still seen at the second lowest level of the past 20 years.
Soyabean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade rallied more than 2 percent following the USDA report, while corn added 1-1/2 percent and wheat slipped 1/2 percent. FOB basis offers for corn, soya and wheat shipments in November and much of December were unquoted as Gulf export facilities have little to no loading capacity available following big forward sales earlier this year.
Importers have been booking routine purchases of US corn for January and February shipment, entice by prices near the lowest levels in three years. Mexico was an active buyer for that period this week, a trader said. US corn prices for the first quarter of 2014 were competitive on the world market as US prices have dropped compared with Brazilian and Ukrainian corn values. Chinese importers' US soyabean needs have been filled for the near term and they have been eyeing early 2014 shipments. China imported 4.19 million tonnes of soyabeans in October, according to the customs administration, down 11 percent from the prior month. But November and December imports were expected to surge to a two-month total of 12.5 million tonnes, according to the CANONIC think-tank.