International

China unveiled a broad package of stimulus measures yesterday, offering various funding and rate cuts to boost their lagging economy. The real estate sector was a focus with a 50 bps reduction on average interest rates for existing mortgages and a 10pc cut to the minimum down payment requirement for second home buyers now at 15pc. The central bank also said it would cover 100pc of loans for local governments to buy unsold homes with cheap funding, up from 60pc. The response from most analysts was that it was not enough, and that more aggressive fiscal policy is required. 

Brazil’s Conab reported that as at 22 Sept, 2024-25 first (full-season) maize planting was 16pc complete (13pc year ago), following rain in Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina, with rain also boosting soil moisture in Paraná. Soybean sowing was less than 1pc complete (2pc). 2024-25 wheat harvest was 25pc complete (29pc), with crops seen in generally good condition despite some reports of fungal disease. 

Brazil’s Ministry of Trade reported that as at 22 Sept cumulative marketing year (Mar/Feb) corn exports are at 16.1Mt, down 32pc year on year, while soybean marketing year (Feb/Jan) exports are at 85Mt, down 1pc year on year. 

According to the Kazakhstan government 2024-25 grain harvest is 68pc complete and has yielded 16.7Mt, with total production expected to reach at least 20Mt. 

UK-based price reporting agency Fastmarkets reported that as at 20 Sept, Russia’s 2024-25 wheat harvest was estimated to be 83pc complete, yielding 77.8Mt, barley harvest 86pc complete yielding 16.1Mt, maize harvest 20pc complete at 1.9Mt and rapeseed harvest 57pc complete yielding 3.3Mt. 

Japan’s MAFF is seeking 112,580t milling wheat from the United States, Canada and Australia in a regular tender that will close late on Thursday.

Australia

Canola bids in Western Australia yesterday were up about A$30/t at about $770/t and $700/t for GM canola. Cereals were steady at $355/t for wheat and $312/t for barley.  

Eastern Australian canola bids were up $10-30/t to about $730/t. Finding support also, wheat bids were up $2-4/t to $348/t. Barley was unchanged at $290/t.
As expected, the RBA left the cash rate unchanged yesterday at 4.35pc. CPI data is out at 11:30am today with headline inflation expected to drop 0.8ppt to 2.7pc.

This week’s line ups data shows 1.77Mt of total grain on the stem for September, down from 1.86Mt last week. Wheat was down 81kt at 899kt, barley unchanged at 308kt, canola unchanged at 358kt and sorghum unchanged at 210kt. Port activities were mixed last week, with wait times varying. The current maximum wait time across all ports is 10 days and there are currently 5 vessels loading and 11 anchored.