World: 18% US wheat stocks decline drives agri-commodities prices further upwards

The main driver in the agri-commodities market this week was the grain stocks report from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA); it was released on September 30, FeedNavigator.com reported.

All wheat stocks were down 18% year on year, noted CRM Agri.

Totaling 47.44 mln tonnes, US wheat stocks at the start of September are down 10.28 mln tonnes from 2020, showed the NASS report, leading to higher prices for wheat this week.

“The support for wheat markets pushed Chicago, Paris milling wheat and UK feed wheat higher, breaking above £200 (US$ per ton and making a new contract high,” said the CRM Agri analysts.

Corn stocks were down 36% from September 2020 at 31.4 mln tonnes, however, this is 1.26 mln tonnes higher than the USDA previously estimated and has pressured corn, they said.

Soybean stocks were down 51% year on year, with old crop soybeans stored in all positions on September 1, at 6.97 mln tonnes, 2.21 mln tonnes higher than the 4.76 mln tonnes USDA previous ending stock estimate, and with larger stock estimates, markets fell, reported the UK based oilseed and grain market specialists.

The USDA also released the crops progress report on September 28, with it revealing that 74% of the US maize crop has reached maturity, 10 percentage points ahead of average. The maize harvest is also progressing well, reaching 18% complete and marginally ahead of average, while the publication reported that 16% of US soy is harvested, they said.

With Russian winter sowing still lagging behind last year's pace, the market is keeping an eye on planting progress in the coming weeks and the potential impact on harvest 2022, added CRM Agri.

Reviewing data on weekly net sales for maize, CRM Agri said just 370.4 thousand tonnes for 2021/2022 was disappointing with exports of 676.2 thousand tonnes, primarily to Mexico (262.2 thousand tonnes) and China (140.4 thousand).

For soybeans, US weekly net sales reached 1.1 mln tonnes for 2021/2022, primarily for China (776.5 thousand tonnes).

“While somewhat sluggish, exports of 528.7 thousand tonnes were primarily to China (292 thousand tonnes).”

01 October, 2021