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South American weather bearish for U.S. grains

Wet weather in South America could put a damper on U.S. corn and soybean prices.

Dr. Michael Cordonnier with Soybean and Corn Advisor in Chicago says as Brazil continues to receive beneficial rains, Argentina is forecast to gain welcome moisture in the coming days.

“It’s probably going to be another record soybean crop from Brazil. And this is really important, the soybeans are planted on time, so they’re going to be harvested on time. Which means soybean exports from Brazil will be fast and furious in February.”

He points out the U.S. had little export competition from Brazil last February.

“So we’re going to lose a potential one month of U.S. soybean exports because the soybeans will be harvested on time. And they’ll be harvesting soybeans in Brazil before New Year’s Day.”

Cordonnier tells Brownfield the soybean planting pace in Brazil is the second-fastest on record, and first crop Brazilian corn is 70 percent planted.

In Argentina, he says soybean planting is running near average while corn planting lags about a week behind.