Food Business News - December 20, 2011 - 49

Ingredient Markets
Market commentary for one-week period ended December 16, 2011

Soy Products
Soy ﬂour sales were seasonally slow last week. Pricing inquiries increased as values moved higher from recent lows. New sales mostly were limited to month-to-month transactions rather than longer-term contracts. Coverage ranged from only a month out to the full crop year with the latter mostly the case for larger users. Time needed to deliver new orders held at two to three weeks. Soybean futures prices recovered from 14-month lows to end the week with gains of about 20c a bu, or 2%, while soybean meal contracts advanced about $11 a ton, or more than 3%. Despite a setback of about 20c a bu tied to outside market pressure last Wednesday, soybean futures advanced most of the week on concerns about dry conditions in South America, especially Argentina. The midweek pressure from strength in the value of the U.S. dollar, tied to concerns about euro zone debt, and related lower crude oil prices was more than offset by gains of more than 10c a bu during each of the last two trading days of the week as the dollar once more turned weaker and concerns about South America intensiﬁed. Net export sales of U.S. soybeans in the week ended Dec. 8 for delivery in 2011-12 were 468,600 tonnes, down 39% from a week earlier, the U.S.D.A. said. Soybean meal net sales were 103,700 tonnes in the week, also down 39% from a week earlier. Export sales commitments for the marketing year to date were down 33% for soybeans and 14% for soybean meal compared with the same period last year. FBN

Corn Products
Corn meal sales were seasonally slow last week as some breakfast cereal manufacturers

prepared to take extended downtime over the holiday period. Prices declined. Most users held coverage through the ﬁrst quarter of 2012, and a few earlier took full or partial coverage for the entire crop year. Buying last week was month to month. Corn mills ran ﬁve to six days but will take additional downtime during the last two weeks of the month. Declines of mostly 13@14c a bu last Wednesday sent corn futures prices lower for the week as price changes on remaining days were mixed but minor. The midweek weakness was the result of outside market pressure — the U.S. dollar rising to an 11-month high against the euro and sharply lower crude oil futures prices. Outside market activity again mostly was related to concerns about the euro zone debt situation. Fundamental inﬂuences on the corn market were minor with exports about as expected, the harvest mostly completed and weather in Southern Hemisphere growing areas dry but not yet critical as planting progresses. Wet conditions continued to delay the completion of the corn harvest in Ohio with only 82% of the state’s crop combined as of Dec. 11, compared with 80% a week earlier and 99% as the 2006-10 average, the state’s U.S. Department of Agriculture ﬁeld ofﬁce said. Farmers were waiting for the ground to freeze before completing ﬁeldwork. Net export sales of U.S. corn in the week ended Dec. 8 for delivery in 2011-12 were 504,700 tonnes, down 27% from the prior week’s total, the U.S.D.A. said. Marketingyear-to-date net export sales commitments of corn were 4% below the same period last year, easily the best performance among U.S. grains and oilseeds so far this year. FBN

mostly slow last week although some users completed ﬁrst-quarter 2012 coverage to take advantage of earlier price declines. In some cases, buyers covered the futures component of contracts but held off booking the cash basis because of continued strong basis levels. Canadian producers remained ﬁrm holders of 2011 oats. Oats ﬂake shipments remained brisk due to the hot breakfast cereal season. Nearby March Chicago oats futures traded nearly ﬂat at around $3.05 a bu last week but were about 80c a bu, or 20%, below year-ago values. FBN

Rice
U.S. milled rice prices were steady to lower last week with long-grain steady to down $1 a cwt, medium-grain steady to off $4, parboiled steady to $2 lower and other classes unchanged. Rice byproduct prices were steady to higher with bran unchanged and hulls steady to up $20 a ton. Compared with year-ago levels, prices of medium-grain, longgrain and parboiled rice were down about 10%, second heads and brewers’ grain were higher and rice byproducts were sharply higher. U.S.D.A. 2011 crop world milled rice prices were 39@55c a cwt lower but were slightly above year-ago levels. Nearby rough rice futures prices declined last week and were about even with yearago levels but were down about $1 a cwt, or 7%, for the month and about $4.50, or 25%, from mid-September highs. Net export sales of U.S. rice in the week ended Dec. 8 for delivery in 2011-12 were 69,400 tonnes, up 6% from a week earlier and 7% above the prior four-week average, the U.S.D.A. said. Marketing-year-to-date net export sales commitments of rice were 29% below the same period last year. FBN

Oats
Sales of food grade oats ﬂakes were

Chicago corn and soy futures
Corn Futures $ per bu March May July September December March Soybeans January March May July August September Soybean Meal January March May July August September

Soy products

Rice
offers f.o.b. mills, $ per cwt, bagged — Change from — Year Cash Dec. 16 Dec. 9 Dec. 2 ago Long grain 27.00@29.00 0@-1 0@-1 29.00 Medium grain 31.00@32.00 0@-4 0@-4 34.00 Parboiled 30.00@35.00 0@-2 0@-2 34.00 Second heads, bulk 17.00@18.00 — — 15.00 Brewers 14.00@18.00 — — 10.00 f.o.b. mills, $ per ton Rice millfeed ... ... . . . 40.00 Rice bran 220@250 — — 100.00 Rice hulls 50@70 0@+20 0@+20 1.00 U.S.D.A. 2011 crop world price milled - $ per cwt Long grain 21.54 -0.55 -0.55 22.20 Medium/short grain 21.25 -0.54 -0.54 21.92 Broken 15.24 -0.39 -0.39 15.71 C.B.O.T. rough rice futures - $ per cwt January 13.68½ -0.32½ -0.77 13.70 March 13.94 -0.34 -0.80½ 13.99 May 14.22½ -0.35½ -0.81 14.27 July 14.49½ -0.35½ -0.81½ 14.52

Defatted, f.o.b. Midwest plant, $ per cwt — Change from — Year — Change from — Dec. 16 Dec. 9 Dec. 2 ago Dec. 16 Dec. 9 Dec. 2 Soy ﬂour 5.83 -11¼ -12¼ 5.96½ Bulk 21.72 @ 22.02 +.67@ +.70 +.20 @ -.24 5.91¾ -11¼ -11¼ 6.04¼ Sacked 23.02 @ 23.72 +.70@ +.67 -.24 @ +.20 5.98½ -10½ -10¼ 6.08¼ Corn meal 5.69¼ -5¾ -2½ 5.61¾ 5.48 -3¾ -5¼ 5.41½ $ per cwt 5.60¼ -3¾ -5½ 5.49½ — Change from — $ per bu Dec. 16 Dec. 9 Dec. 2 11.30 +23 -5¾ 12.98¾ Chicago, bulk 22.20@ 25.25 -.18@-.25 -.20@-.30 11.39½ +23 -6¾ 13.10½ Chicago, sacked 23.97@ 27.08 -.18@-.25 -.20@-.30 11.50¼ +23¼ -6 13.18½ New York, bulk 23.87@ 26.98 -.18@-.25 -.20@-.30 11.59¾ +22¾ -6½ 13.21¾ New York, sacked 26.29@ 29.37 -.18@-.25 -.20@-.30 11.58 +20½ -8 12.98¾ 11.53 +18 -6 12.63¾ Oats — Change from — $ per ton Dec. 16 Dec. 9 Dec. 2 290.30 +13.40 +2.00 347.80 Minneapolis 293.50 +12.30 +1.50 351.30 Food grade ﬂakes, f.o.b., 29.25@29.75 -.25 -.50 297.00 +11.70 +1.40 352.10 bagged, $ per cwt 300.90 +11.50 +1.20 352.90 Milling quality oats, No. 2 heavy, 3.36¼ -¾c -13¾c 302.10 +11.20 +1.10 344.60 $ per bu 25@35 — — 302.40 +10.50 +.80 333.60 Oat hulls, $ per ton

December 20, 2011

FOODBUSINESS NEWS

Food Business News - December 20, 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Food Business News - December 20, 2011