-Mexico continues to optimistically talk of reducing corn imports
-No USDA sales announcements
-Egypt wheat purchase shows Russia still in play
It’s another very quiet news morning for the grain markets as it feels as though we’ve settled into a bit a holding pattern ahead of next Tuesday’s WASDE report. Of course, that could quickly change if another large-scale Chinese purchase is announced and/or the Brazilian forecast turns notably wetter once again, but for now, we’re seeing a bit more choppy trade in corn and soybeans, while wheat is again on the defensive. Malaysian palm oil futures were sharply lower overnight, falling by nearly 5%, weighing on soybean oil, as well.
 Mexico continues to optimistically talk about reducing corn imports by supporting domestic production, with the Ag Minister setting an initial goal of lowering imports by 1.5 MMT this year, roughly 9% relative to last year’s 16.5 MMT in total imports. Over the next three years, he said the goal is to reduce corn imports by 30%, which would lower imports by around 5 MMT from current levels, by increasing production. Mexico imports primarily yellow corn from the U.S. for livestock, while being selfsufficient in white corn production for human consumption.
ï‚· Egypt ended up buying 480k tonnes of wheat in their latest tender yesterday, 120k Russian, 240k French, 60k Romanian, 60k
Ukrainian, all falling in a very tight price range of $311.20-$311.95/tonne c&f ($291.70-$296.60 fob).
ï‚· South Korea bought 60k tonnes of South American soybean meal for June shipment at $499.94/tonne c&f.
ï‚· There were no USDA sales announcements this morning.
Weather
Rains of .25-.75â€+ fell across around 80% of the Brazilian growing regions yesterday, with no strong location bias. The forecast
remains consistent with 2-4†expected in most of Minas Gerais, Goias and Mato Grosso in the next 5 day, with .50-1â€+ elsewhere in the next 2-3 days and then quieting down. An additional 2-4â€+ is expected for most of Minas Gerais, Goias and Mato Grosso in the 6-10 day period, but mostly quiet elsewhere. Argentina saw generally less than .50†rains across around 85% growing areas yesterday. Most areas look dry over the next 10 days, with the exception of .50-1†rains in far western growing regions in the 6-10 day period.