Market Report: Corn and Beans Hold Tuesday

Corn held together well on Tuesday. After the gains last week and Monday there was a contrary Tuesday attitude with most traders. A number of times corn was pushed lower, but each time prices ground back. There appeared to be buy orders under the market, which could have been end users or maybe funds trying to cover some of their huge short positions. The International Grains council reported that U.S. and Argentina export prices were the same at $163 a ton. I suspect corn will continue to be range bound until the USDA Stocks and Prospective Plantings Report the end of March.

Beans saw a quiet day on Tuesday, too, but did close about 4 cents lower. The NOPA Crush report came in at 146 million bushels, which was well above the trade guess of 138 million. According to the International Grains Council, our beans are very competitive on the world market compared to Brazil. The Brazil export price is at $345 a ton while U.S. beans are at $347. When you consider added costs in Brazil like export taxes, wait times for ship loading and economic issues, our beans are much cheaper. Like corn, I suspect beans will just "mark time" until the USDA reports at the end of the month.