Futures Close Report 19th Feb 2018

US markets were all closed on Monday owing to the national holiday – continued concern over lower Arg production numbers for soybeans as drought ongoing.  General consensus is for production below 50 million tonnes.  US markets have reopened this morning and are firmer again pushing markets to a 7 month high.

Brazil’s 2017/18 soybean crop is expected to reach 115.6 million tonnes, a record volume, 1.2% above the previous record last year of 114.2 million tonnes, according to an updated forecast on Monday from consultancy Safras & Mercado.  Safras raised its previous estimate, released in December, by 1.7 million tonnes due to expectations of better yields. For corn production was estimated at 115.6 million tonnes down 17% year on year.