Reuters Daily Agriculture Brief 150409

FIRST ON REUTERS:

Reuters clients learn that commodities, not industries, may gain first in recession fight
Reuters financial clients got an early and exclusive insight from a March 11 analysis that the trillions of dollars allocated for global economic stimulus could do a lot to inflate prices of raw materials in the near-term, without boosting industrial activity. The prescient story ran just before oil, metals and grains markets spiked in early March following months of losses. It illustrated how investors could react early to the expected growth in money supply, even if consumer demand stayed weak -- a pattern proven just weeks later as commodities began rallying even as economic indicators remained down. The Financial Times ran an almost identical piece a day after the Reuters story, which was also reproduced financial and economic websites and newspapers like Jakarta Globe.

GRAINS:

Soy firm after surge to 3-month high, corn lower
PARIS/SINGAPORE, April 15 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean futures rose for the fifth straight session on Wednesday as strong Chinese buying and prospects of lower U.S. closing stocks continued to buoy the market.

EDIBLE OIL/OILSEEDS:

Palm off 8-month highs; drawdown fears mount
KUALA LUMPUR, April 15 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm futures fell 1.1 percent on Wednesday, easing from an 8-month high notched earlier in the session as some investors booked profits on a rally fuelled by speculation of a drawdown in stocks.
"Exports were around the same levels (from last month) but there is talk of lower production and therefore, lower stocks," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage.

Ukraine Q1 sunoil output rises 27 pct vs yr-ago
KIEV, April 15 (Reuters) - Sunoil output in Ukraine rose by 27 percent to 695,000 tonnes in January-March 2009 compared with the same period in 2008, the State Statistics Committee said on Wednesday.
Sunoil production totalled 242,00 tonnes in March against 216,000 in February. Analysts have said sunoil production is likely to rise to about 2.37 million tonnes in the 2008/09 season from 1.73 million in 2007/08.

India's veg oil imports surge 27.5 pct despite harvest
NEW DELHI, April 15 (Reuters) - India's vegetable oil imports in March rose 27.5 percent as farmers held back rapeseed stocks in the hope of higher prices, while some traders shipped in more oil expecting a rise in the import tax, data showed on Wednesday.
Total imports rose to 641,141 tonnes, the Solvent Extractors' Association of India said, led by a 44.5 percent surge in edible oil imports, which was much higher than trade expectations of a 33 percent rise.

Pakistan goes slow on palm oil buying – official
ISLAMBAD, April 15 (Reuters) - Pakistan has made few purchases of palm oil this month after strong buying in the first quarter led to a glut, and buying is expected to remain slow at present prices, a top industry official said on Wednesday.
"The country overbought in the first quarter and stock levels remain very high. Because of the over-buying there's a local glut," said Rasheed Janmohammad, vice-chairman of the Pakistan Edible Oil Refiners Association. "Buying for second quarter, commencing April, shipment was very slow. Buying has been very very slow in the last two weeks."

Malaysia's April 1-15 palm oil exports up 3.7 pct -ITS
KUALA LUMPUR, April 15 (Reuters) - Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for April 1-15 rose 3.7 percent to 613,677 tonnes from 591,567 tonnes shipped between March 1 and 15, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said on Wednesday.

BEYOND THE HEADLINES:

Marubeni deal may aid stealthy China grain imports
SINGAPORE, April 15 (Reuters) - China's second strategic tie-up with a Japanese trading house may be nominally focused on safeguarding soybean supplies, but the unspoken longer-term aim could be to help Beijing secure low-key corn and wheat imports.
For now, China remains as it has been for centuries, self-sufficient in corn and wheat supplies; it also holds massive state stockpiles able to meet any immediate supply shortages.

World needs extra 10 mln T rice for stable mkt
MANILA, April 14 (Reuters) - Global rice trade must increase by at least 10 million tonnes to stabilise prices in the long term, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) said on Tuesday.
It added that the extra volume should come from exporters outside Asia where surplus output is dwindling.

Argentine soy import curb deepens crushers' woes
BUENOS AIRES, April 14 (Reuters) - Argentina's decision to scrap tax breaks on soy imports could further reduce crushing activity just as a poor harvest and hoarding by farmers forces processors to slow operations at their plants.
Soy output in Argentina, the world's top supplier of soyoil and meal, is seen falling up to 15 percent this year and analysts say the government's crackdown on imported beans, mainly from Paraguay, will aggravate a supply crunch.