Sorghum FOB New Orleans was offered at US$205.30 for March transfer late last week. Destined to China this would cost roughly US$44 per tonne in a Panamax vessel (57kt). So the back of the envelope calculation would land US sorghum in China at about US$249. The ocean rate from Australia to China is roughly US$21, so that makes US sorghum equivalent to roughly US$US$228 FOB Aussie port. Deducting port cost estimates would give you a number of roughly AUD$260 NTP Newcastle equivalent. That’s about $33 under current cash values, so the domestic market in Australia is definitely demanding all the sorghum being produced.

Wheat and corn futures in the US were weaker in overnight trade. Poor demand and thoughts the US dollar may stage a short term recovery weighed over wheat prices. Rainfall across Nebraska and the central and eastern states of the US plains also put a little pressure on values. Dry weather is persisting across much of the Texas pan handle and SE and SC Kansas though.

ICE canola futures closed a little higher on the back of a better night for soybeans in the US. Paris rapeseed was not so lucky and pushed lower on the nearby by E0.50 / tonne. The dry weather in Argentina is probably the main driver in US bean values at present if you were to take export volume out of the equation.  Concern over the ongoing drought across southern Alberta and the southern half of Saskatchewan is growing and will be worth watching come their spring. Growers are holding stock as a hedge to drought there.