In the Indian markets, soybean futures continued to gain for the third day in a row as buying interest emerges. What is supporting the market is the very slow farmer selling keeping the arrivals restricted in the spot markets. Indian meal price remained out priced by almost $ 80-100 compared to other destinations which is likely to keep importing nations on sidelines leaving alone Iran. Indian meal season nearly ends in March as buyers shift to the South American meal this time. Going forward, spot markets will remain closed from the 27th till the 2nd of April as India celebrates the festivals of Holi, Good Friday followed by yearly Bank closure. Post which expect arrivals of mustard to rise sharply and keep prices under check. Rallies to 3530-3550 should be used to sell for a target of 3350 on the downside over the near future.
On the Chicago Board of Trade, soybean futures edged lower on Friday due to positioning ahead of the next week’s US government stock and planting report. Traders expect a rise in US soy acreage in 2013 denting the bullish sentiments. Informa Economics trimmed its U.S. 2013 soybean plantings forecast to 78.457 million acres, from 78.777 million in January. The latest forecast would still represent an all-time high. On the weather front in the US , cool, wet late winter weather across most of the U.S. grain belt has raised hopes that the world's largest food exporter will rebound from last year's historic drought but experts warn that many crop and pasture areas west of the Mississippi River remain bone dry. The weekly U.S. Drought Monitor, which last summer rated two-thirds of the U.S. land mass in "moderate to exceptional" drought, on Thursday showed drought areas shrank since December. However, 51 percent of the country was still rated as having moderate drought conditions or worse as of March19. Indonesia aims to link traders' imports of soybeans to the volume of the oilseed they buy at home as the country moves to protect domestic farmers and promote their interests. Soybean shipments to Indonesia, which meet 70 percent of its annual needs of the oilseed through imports, are likely to rise 3 percent to 1.8 million tons this year. There will be no limitations on the number of importers nor on import value.
Chinese companies have bought as much as 300,000 tons of Australian rapeseed over the weekend; in the first such purchases after China lifted a ban on Australian rapeseed imposed in 2009. Exports can only be shipped from a restricted number of Australian ports, while delivery can only occur at specific locations in China, away from major canola growing regions
