Wednesday Edition

05.05.10

North America

ASA: SOY BIODIESEL CAN FULFILL RFS WITHOUT NEGATIVE IMPACTS
The American Soybean Association provided comments to the National Research Council Committee on Economic and Environmental Impacts of Increasing Biofuels Production, stating that biodiesel made from soybean oil can play a vital role in fulfilling the Renewable Fuel Standard without any adverse impacts to the food or feed markets.

US CLIMATE BILL TO BE RELEASED SOON, SAYS SEN. KERRY
Sen. John Kerry on Wednesday brushed off setbacks to passing climate change legislation, saying he hoped to unveil a compromise bill soon while stressing that consumers would be protected from energy price hikes, Reuters reports. "I believe when we roll out a bill -- and we will roll it out very, very soon” he said.

CA GHG LAW PROTESTORS COULD PUT ISSUE ON NOVEMBER BALLOT
Protestors aiming to scuttle California's GHG reduction law say that they have more than 800,000 signatures, enough to put the issue on the November ballot. The signatures in favor of the California Jobs Initiative, the measure that would suspend the GHG law, have now been submitted to California's secretary of state for verification, Argus reports.

USDA PROPOSES TO EXCLUDE LOUIS DREYFUS FROM BIOFUEL PROGRAM
USDA Rural Development has proposed a rule that would exclude the Louis Dreyfus biodiesel plant from the Advanced Biofuel Payment Program due to its foreign ownership. Many in Indiana near the Claypool facility are concerned about an unlevel playing field. Read more



South America

BRAZIL SOY EXPORTS RISE IN APRIL ON YEAR
Brazil's soybean exports rose to 4.9 million mt in April from 4.5 million mt in April 2009, the Foreign Trade Ministry said Monday. The latest figures compared with 3.08 million mt of soybeans exported in March, CME reports.

97% SOY CROP HARVESTED IN BRAZIL
Celeres reported this week that Brazilian farmers harvested 97% of the upcoming 2009-10 soy crop as of April 30. Brazilian farmers in key regions progressed from 94% harvested as of April 23 and 93% at the same time a year ago, CME reports.

Europe

RECESSION CUTS COST TO REACH EMISSIONS REDUCTION TARGET
The recession has made the cost of the EU moving to a 30% emissions reduction target cheaper, according to a leaked draft document from the European Commission's Directorate General Climate Action that analyses the EU's post-2012 climate options, Argus reports.

Asia / Pacific

CHINA URGES TO BUY SOY FROM BRAZIL AND US, NOT ARGENTINA
China told state-owned trading companies to seek supplies of soybean oil from Brazil and the US as it kept an embargo on imports from Argentina, two company executives with direct knowledge of the matter said, Bloomberg reports.


PALM OIL FUTURES RISE
Palm oil futures rose in Malaysia to $783/mt Wednesday, reversing an earlier decline, as a weaker ringgit increased its appeal to importers holding other currencies, and as a recent slump in prices lured buyers, Bloomberg reports.


Market Analysis

MALAYSIA END-APRIL PALM OIL STOCK MAY DECLINE
Trade officials and company executives this week said Malaysia's end-April palm oil inventories may have declined marginally to around 1.5-1.6 million mt due to lower output, but the fall in shipments of palm oil has limited the fall in stock level.

The fall in stocks would have been higher had export demand picked up, but prices of palm oil and palm products rose at a faster pace over rival soybean oil, leading to a reversal in prices, with palm olein now trading at a premium to crude soybean oil, encouraging buyers to switch to soybean oil, said a senior executive at a trading firm based in Singapore, CME reports.

ADM POSTS HIGHER EARNINGS, BUT SHARES FALL
ADM posted higher quarterly earnings but an uncertain outlook and a broad sell-off in equities dragged its stock down more than 5% this week.

Improved oilseed processing and ethanol margins, and rising demand for grains, boosted ADM's fiscal third quarter but weak ethanol margins and uncertainty about near-term demand growth for corn-based biofuel were seen weighing on the shares, Reuters reports.
Strong oilseed demand in Asia and improved demand for vegetable oil-based biodiesel in Europe and South America further bolstered ADM's profit.

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