Del.icio.us  Digg  facebook  MySpace  Twitter  Google  Bookmark Me  LinkedIn  StumbleUpon  Permalink

Buyers Step Up For Beans

Soybean exports rebounded a bit this week, but the biggest news for today’s USDA sales report was who made the purchases – and who didn’t.

While Chinese traders took the week off for nationwide holidays, accounting for less than 30% of the total, buyers from around the world stepped in to fill the vacuum. Net new bookings for week topped 24 million bushels, almost 50% above last week’s level. Shipments also picked up a bit, though the total for the year is a bit lower than average due to tight pipeline supplies caused by harvest delays and scarce carryover from the 2008 crop.

Corn sales were also up from last week at just under 25 million bushels, but fell a little short of both trade expectations and the weekly rate needed to meet USDA’s forecast for the marketing year. Regular customers from Asia and the Americans made up most of the business, but some buying was also noted out of North Africa and the Middle East.

After a good weak the previous period, wheat sales eased to 17.6 million bushels, a little below trade guesses. Shipments picked up, but remain well behind the government’s forecast for the market year. Japan was a good buyer, taking around a quarter of the total, but other purchases were smaller, scattered around a host of countries in Asia, the Americas and the Middle East.

For the complete export report, click here.