Search

China imported 6% less soybeans from the United States in 2024 amid ongoing trade tensions with the North American country and the availability of competitively priced South American soybeans, but Chinese imports still grew by 7% last year.

Investors in the US corn and soybean markets trimmed shorts while amassing longs in the week to Tuesday January 14, pushing the corn net long to the highest-level since May 2022 and moving soybeans from a net short to a net long for the first time in more than a year, data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) showed late on Friday January 17.

Fastmarkets’ weekly recap of the main movements in global cash markets.

Fastmarkets commits to publishing daily the bids, offers, indicative levels, or other cash trading indications on any basis and geography related to any vital markets with strong ties with Ukraine.

Corn harvest advanced 8 percentage points, to 16% of an area of 748,511 hectares in the week to Thursday January 16 in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, while soybean sowing remains interrupted by the lack of rain, state agency Emater said in its weekly report released late on Thursday.

After two weeks of dropping, Russian wheat taxes were raised for January 22-28, the country’s agriculture ministry said on Friday January 17.

Rosario Grain Exchange (BCR) has cut its estimate for Argentina’s corn harvest to 48 million tonnes from the previous forecast of 52 million tonnes due to drought while discarding the possibility of an output of 53-53.5 million tonnes for soybeans due to losses in late-sowing areas, its monthly estimates update showed on Wednesday January 15.

Ukraine exported 912,000 tonnes of grains during the week ended Thursday January 16, up by 152,000 tonnes, or 20%, from the previous week, according to data released by the country’s State Customs Service on Friday January 17.

Just 42,800 tonnes of milling wheat were exported from Rouen in the week to Wednesday January 15, according to data released by French port operator Haropa on Thursday.

Canada's grain and oilseeds weekly exports pace increased by 71% in the week ended Sunday January 12, totaling 1.17 million tonnes, data from the Canadian Grain Commission released on Friday January 17 shows.

Chinese state agencies held an auction for imported soybeans from the country’s reserves on Friday January 17, where 46,109 tonnes of soybeans were sold, sources told Fastmarkets.

Brazilian soybean output is expected to reach 172.4 million tonnes in 2024/25, up from the previous 172.2 million tonnes forecast, while the Brazilian soybean exports forecast rose to 105.1 million tonnes in 2025, from the previous estimate of 103.4 million tonnes, local consultancy Agroconsult said on Thursday January 16.

Sales of soybean old crop and corn new crop surged during the week to January 8, according to data released by Argentina’s agriculture secretariat on Wednesday January 15.

The Argentine Oilseed Crushers Union (SOEA) decided to maintain a strike at Argentina’s soybean crusher Vicentin started on Saturday January 11, as workers demanded the payment of the agreed-upon bonus and rejected an agreement offer. Workers from the biodiesel company Explora joined the strike because they also did not receive the annual bonus.

Argentina has completed its wheat harvest, reaching a total production of 18.6 million tonnes, with a national average yield of 3,040 kg per hectare, according to a Buenos Aires Grains Exchange (BAGE) report released on Thursday January 16.

After a long period of an almost dead market, with all import restrictions still taking place, in mid-January demand for higher-protein wheat from Russia has reappeared from the Turkish side, sources told Fastmarkets.

Thailand’s Feed Millers’ Association (TFMA) has reportedly booked up to 180,000 tonnes of feed wheat for May-July shipment in its latest tender, which closed on Wednesday January 15, according to the sources.

Fastmarkets commits to publishing daily the bids, offers, indicative levels, or other cash trading indications on any basis and geography related to any vital markets with strong ties with Ukraine.

The International Grains Council (IGC) has lowered its world grain production forecast by 7 million tonnes to 2.305 billion tonnes for the 2024/25 marketing year, according to the council’s latest monthly report.

Showers are forecast for Argentina in the week beginning Thursday January 16, but volumes should be limited and unevenly distributed, raising pressing concerns for soybean and corn fields in key development stages.