Argentine farmers corn sales pick up, beans and wheat lower

Argentine farmers sold large volumes of corn in the week to July 14 as harvest works gathered steam and reached 62.4% of the estimated crop.

Soybean weekly forward sales edged lower on the week but were significantly higher on the year while wheat sales declined for both crops.

Accumulated sales in the marketing year represented a larger share of the estimated crops for all three commodities compared to year-ago levels and farmers applied for fresh export licenses amounting to 14 cargoes of corn and one of beans.

Corn

Weekly old corn crop forward sales in the week to July 14 amounted to 1.3 million mt, over 40% higher on the week and on the year, while new crop sales also lifted steeply to 240,100 mt.

Forward sales gathered steam in tandem with harvest works that picked up and lifted 6.4 percentage points over the week, to now stand at 62.4% complete, according to the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange (BAGE).

This brought total 2020/21 sales up to 33.6 million mt, 9% higher on the year, while forward sales now represent 70% of the estimated crop, up by 10 percentage points from the level registered a year ago.

There were also 816,000 mt of fresh old crop export license applications, bringing the marketing year total up to 31.2 million mt, 15% higher on the year.

Soybeans

Farmers sold 85,100 mt of new crop soybeans in the week to July 14, 80% and 95% higher on the week and on the year, respectively.

Meanwhile, old crop forward sales edged 20% lower on the week to 660,400 mt but were significantly above volumes sold at the same point last year.

Total old crop sales reached 25.1 million mt, still 8% lower on the year but represent a marginally higher share of the estimated crop at 57.7%.

Farmers applied for export licenses of equivalent to one bean cargo over the week, lifting total 2020/21 export license applications to 3.6 million mt, still way below the 5.9 million mt registered a year ago.

That said, the yearly export licenses gap continues to narrow down as farmers start to sell larger volumes backed by a revival of Chinese buying interest and a set of bottlenecks in the Up River crushing industry hub that have diverted beans from domestic processing to exports.

Wheat

Fresh weekly wheat sales edged lower for both crops in the week to July 14 with new crop down by 48% on the week to 48,700 mt and old crop 34% lower to 106,200 mt.

Total new crop forward sales lifted to 4.1 million mt, 22% higher on the year, representing 21.8% of the estimated crop, 1.9 points higher on the year.

Farmers did not apply for any fresh export licenses over the week for either of the crops.