Market News

Export demand continues to support soybeans

Soybeans were modestly higher on commercial and technical buying. It was an up and down day, with strong demand eventually winning out over probable record domestic production. China bought 330,000 tons of U.S. beans, 66,000 tons for 2016/17 and 264,000 tons for 2017/18, and unknown destinations purchased 136,000 tons, all for 2016/17 delivery. The USDA’s weekly export sales report is out Thursday at 8:30 AM Eastern/7:30 AM Central. Soybean meal was mixed, adjusting old crop/new crop spreads. Bean oil was higher.

Corn was modestly lower on profit taking and technical selling. Corn had correction after gaining almost twenty cents late last week and early this week. Solid domestic and export demand limited losses. Demand for ethanol use is also a big continued component. The U.S. Energy Information Administration says production for the week ending December 2nd averaged 1.023 million barrels a day, up 11,000 on the week. Ethanol futures were higher.

The wheat complex was lower on commercial and technical selling. The supply side of the market remains bearish, both domestically and internationally. The USDA’s new supply and demand estimates out Friday should confirm that bearishness. The trade’s keeping an eye on dry, cold conditions in the U.S. Plains, but for better or worse, it’d probably take a significant, sustained event to shift the fundamentals.