Reuters Daily Agriculture Brief 210409

FIRST ON REUTERS:

Reuters Cairo bureau first to report concerns over asymptomatic bird flu cases


GRAINS:

US soy regains some ground, slow sowing boosts corn
PARIS/SINGAPORE, April 21 (Reuters) - U.S. soybean futures recovered some of the previous session's losses, aided by Chinese demand, while slow planting supported corn.
"Overall the report can be considered bullish for corn and bearish for soy because some switch from corn to bean could be expected," said Genichiro Higaki, head of proprietary fund management team at Sumitomo Corp in Tokyo.

Saudi's Savola Foods to up capacity to 400,000 T/yr
CAIRO, April 21 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's Savola Foods will raise its edible oil refining capacity to 400,000 tonnes per year when a new refining unit comes online at the end of 2009, the company's chief executive said on Tuesday.
"The new refinery is coming onstream by the end of this year, which will bring our total capacity to 400,000 tonnes," Chief Executive Zouhair Eloudghari said, adding that was a rise of 100,000 tonnes per year.

EDIBLE OIL/OILSEEDS:

Asian palm losses narrow as supply fears persist
JAKARTA, April 21 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm futures closed slightly lower, recouping most of the early losses thanks to late buying on concerns about tight supplies, traders said.
"The thing is the physical side is still tight. Plantations firms are not in selling mood as they prefer to replenish stock until reaching comfortable levels, before selling more aggressively," said a trader at a Kuala Lumpur-based brokerage.

First zero-duty soyoil to reach India in May-official
MUMBAI, April 21 (Reuters) - India is likely to receive the first consignment of zero-duty soyoil in the third week of May, a senior industry official told Reuters on Tuesday.
India last month scrapped a 20 percent duty on imports of crude soyoil in an effort to lower prices and raise supplies.

US soyoil exports brighter amid demand from India
CHICAGO, April 20 (Reuters) - U.S. soybean oil prices at the U.S. Gulf jumped on Monday on an improved outlook for U.S. exports to India and supply concerns in Argentina, the world's top soybean product exporter, traders said.
The U.S. Agriculture Department said on Monday that India, the world's second biggest vegetable oils importer, bought 40,000 tonnes of U.S. soyoil.

Brazil soy crop 79 pct harvested, sales lag behind
SAO PAULO, April 20 (Reuters) - Brazil's 2008/09 soybean crop was 79 percent harvested by April 18, up 10 percentage points from a week earlier, while forward sales continued to lag far behind last year's, analysts Celeres said on Monday.
Harvesting had practically finished in Mato Grosso, Brazil's top soy producing state, where beans are sown and mature earlier than the rest of the soy belt. It has now gathered 99 percent of its crop and should finish in days.

COMMODITIES:

Nervousness on economy dents metals
LONDON, April 21 (Reuters) - Renewed worries about the U.S. banking sector ushed industrial metals into a second day of losses on Tuesday and dented the market confidence that had driven some commodities up by as much as two thirds this year.
"The recurrent theme is high inventories and weakening demand," said Angus McPhail of British-based investment firm Alliance Trust.


FINANCIAL MARKETS:

Banking worries hit world stocks
LONDON, April 21 (Reuters) - World stocks sold off and Wall Street looked set to open lower after a more than one-month long rally lost some of its immediate fizz due to renewed worries about the state of the banking industry.
"There are still questions about banks' earnings and provisions," said Bernard McAlinden, strategist at NCB Stockbrokers. "The market is likely to give back some more of its gains. It's as positive as you can be to say that we've seen the lows."