Corn and Beans Higher Last Week

Corn did pretty well last week, managing to post gains of 10-3/4 in the nearby March Contract. It was also encouraging that March saw a bullish reversal after closing lower for two weeks in a row. I am hearing more traders mention that parts of Brazil are too wet, which is slowing down harvest and planting of their second crop of corn. With the market expecting record corn and bean production out of Brazil, this could decrease those expectations a bit.

Beans did OK last week, too, with March managing gains of 13-1/2 cents for the week. March beans also posted a weekly reversal. It was encouraging that beans shrugged off the bearish Informa Economics Brazilian bean crop estimate. Informa increased their bean crop this year to 108 MMT. Most other estimates are around 105 MMT. Northern Brazil has been getting a lot of rain, which is slowing harvest and movement of the beans to the ports. However, beans are moving into the export pipeline.