Soyabean export premiums at the US Gulf Coast were mixed on Wednesday amid sluggish demand for nearby shipments and solid demand from China for new-crop supplies, traders said. FOB basis values for early summer soyabean shipments were stronger as supplies were expected to be very difficult to source ahead of the next harvest.
China's importers inquired about new-crop US soyabean shipments and may have booked one or two cargoes of late October and November soyabeans, which kept autumn basis offers supported, traders said. Some Chinese crushers were trying to cancel or resell some Brazilian soyabean purchases due to an overabundance of supplies at China's ports. But China still had some June and July needs to fill with South American purchases.
The US Department of Agriculture on Wednesday increased its forecast for US soyabean exports and imports for the 2013-14 marketing year and lowered its US ending stocks view to the lowest in a decade. Traders said the export increase was justified given the strong pace of shipments and sales this season, but questioned whether US ports, which are designed largely for exports, could handle the volume of imports forecast. Corn export premiums at the Gulf were unchanged amid light demand and adequate supplies.
USDA raised its US corn export forecast by 125 million bushels in a monthly report on Wednesday, more than analysts were projecting, and lowered its US ending stocks view below trade expectations. USDA left its China corn imports forecast at 5 million tonnes despite an attache report that projected only 4 million tonnes of imports this year due to recent import rejections because shipments contained an unapproved GMO strain.
China is still evaluating the genetically modified MIR 162 corn strain that has led to the rejection of nearly 1 million tonnes of imports. Approval was not expected before the second half of this year, an industry source said.