-Pullback in grain markets continues amid S. American rains
-Brazilian soybean crop ideas bumped higher/corn lower
-No USDA sales announcements
-EIA/Export Sales data delayed til Friday
NOTE: The EIA’s weekly energy-related data (ethanol, crude oil, gasoline demand, nat gas stocks, etc.) will be released on Friday as a result of Monday’s holiday and the inauguration today. Export Sales are also delayed until Friday, as well. CFTC COT data will still be released on Friday, as usual. Grain markets were sharply lower overnight with better model agreement for Argentine rains and continued good rains in Brazil, as well as technically-related selling picking up as the recent sharp rally has, at least temporarily, run out of steam.
 Brazilian ag consultant Datagro raised their estimate of Brazil’s soybean crop to 135.6 MMT from 135.0 MMT previously, further expanding record expectations beyond last year’s 126.0 MMT (USDA) and reflecting a reversal in recent crop ideas, given the improved rains of late, which had been steady/lower. However, they lowered their estimate of Brazil’s total corn crop to 109.9 MMT from 114.0 MMT previously (USDA 109.0 MMT/102.0 MMT last year), presumably on 1st crop yield reductions.
ï‚· According to a Russian Deputy Prime Minister, total grain production for 2021/22 is preliminarily expected to be around 131
MMT, down only slightly from this year’s record 133 MMT, with roughly 81% of winter crops currently in good condition
ï‚· Taiwan bought 65k tonnes of U.S. corn for April shipment at +201.71 cents CN21 c&f (~$286/tonne). There were no South
American offers made in the tender.
 The EPA granted three biofuel blending waivers on President Trump’s last day in office, far short of the 22 waivers some felt may be granted of the 32 outstanding requests in final administration actions. Additionally, it is uncertain whether the EPA will
continue to entertain the idea of a general waiver for 2019 and 2020 blending obligations, as opened by the Trump
administration late last week, as the public comment period for such a consideration extends into the start of the Biden
administration.
ï‚· Brazilian ag exporter association Anec bumped their estimate of January corn exports up to 2.398 MMT from 2.121 MMT
previously and compares to 5.006 MMT exported in December and 2.103 MMT last year. Ideas for January soybean exports held steady at 1.027 MMT (1.052 MMT previously) vs 274k tonnes in Dec and 1.397 MMT last year.
ï‚· There were no USDA sales announcements this morning.
Weather
Brazil saw rains of .50-1â€+ fell across most of Santa Catarina, Parana, MGDS and Mato Grosso, with things mainly dry elsewhere yesterday. An additional 1-3â€+ is expected across Santa Catarina, Parana, MGDS, Mato Grosso and northern RGDS over the next five days, with amounts of generally less than .35†in Sao Paulo, Goias and Minas Gerais. This is a decrease for Sao Paulo and Goias. Widespread 1-2†amounts are expected in the 6-10 day period for most areas.
Argentina looks to be dry for the next five days. Models are in better agreement this morning for the 6-10 day period with .60-1.25†expected for most areas by the middle of next week as the European brought the rains back into its forecast.