Miller Magazine Issue: 132 December 2020

87 MARKET ANALYSIS MILLER / december 2020 Jordanian MIT did not buy barley in the current ten- der, postponing the purchase until December 8th. For 2020, MIT acquired 600 kMT at an average price of US $ 203.39 compared to 720 kMT in 2019 at an ave- rage price of US $ 248.45. Cheaper Syrian barley and weaker demand have helped keep stocks high. The vegoIls market tryIng to wIn back the bearIsh scenarIo The port union strike in Argentina has been over and started again. A spokesman for the Argentine Federa- tion of Oilseeds, which joined the strike, said worker participation was "almost complete" at many Argentine oilseed factories that produce soy feeds used to feed poultry and pigs from Europe to Southeast Asia. Due to the fact that there were fewer cereals to check the cargoes entering the port, 1,306 trucks loaded with grain entered the terminals in the Rosario area from midnight to 7 am on Tuesday. This is 45% less than the same period on the same day a week earlier, according to the Rosario Grain Exchange, Reuters reports. Indonesia's calculated CPO reference price for De- cember is growing at the fastest rate in 10 months, pus- hing the export duty up from $ 3 to $ 33, according to Palm Oil Analytics. The Indian government cut the base import duty on crude palm oil to 27.5% from 37.5%. The move could once again boost demand for palm oil while reducing demand for other vegetable oils. Export shipments of US soybeans are declining sea- sonally, but still remain one of the best indicators for the current season. Shipments were up 67% from a year ago, double the USDA forecast. In terms of te- chnical analysis, the charts say the historic 2020 rally may be poised to subside, or at least cooled off for a while. StoneX raised its expectations for soybean produc- tion in Brazil to 133.9MMT. According to a Safras es- timate, as of November 27, Brazilian farmers planted 83.3% of the estimated 38.3 million hectares of soy- beans for 20/21. Last year, by the current date, 84.3% of the area was sown, and on average over 5 years, sowing by the current date was 84.8% completed. Mercosul revised its forecast to 128.34MMT, up from 129.15MMT in the previous report, one of the lowest forecasts. Farmers expect up to 100mm rainfall this week and next week, which will significantly improve soil moisture reserves in key production areas. France intends to increase its protein crop area by 40% from 2022 as it seeks to reduce its heavy relian- ce on Latin American soybeans. To achieve this goal, France is investing a total of $ 119.79 million to en- courage farmers to expand acreage, Reuters reports. Stocks of soybeans at Chinese processors are dec- lining seasonally but still remain at a fairly high level.