Dutch bank Rabobank cut its forecast for Argentine corn production by 2 million mt to 39 million mt on Tuesday, with its soybean forecast also falling to 51.5 million mt, making the bank’s analysts some of the most pessimistic in the market. Persistent dry conditions during pollination across Argentina have impacted the early planted corn crop, which has led to the write down in production. The bank’s production estimate is now 3 million mt lower than USDA forecasts and lower than almost all other analysts.
NCDEX soybean gives up earlier gains on weak demand
Futures contracts of soybean gave up earlier gains on the NCDEX and fell due to weak buying in spot markets. Soybean futures rose earlier after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Union Budget for 2018-19 (Apr-Mar), announced that minimum support price for rabi and upcoming kharif crops will be 1.5 times higher than the cost of production. The most-active February contract was down 0.6% from previous close.