Market News

Corn weak, watching planting activity

 

Soybeans were narrowly mixed, adjusting old crop/new crop spreads. Weekly export numbers on beans were bearish, continuing to reflect the slow demand from China. Brazil’s prices at their major ports remain well above U.S. prices. Beijing is still drawing from Brazil’s supplies, but South America won’t be able to meet all of China’s soybean import needs. Some of the concerns about domestic acreage switching are easing, with generally better corn planting weather expected over the next several days. Soybean meal and oil were mostly higher on commercial spread activity. The trade’s also getting ready for the first notice day for May grain and oilseed contracts.

Corn was modestly lower on profit taking and technical selling. Warmer, mostly dry weather in some key U.S. growing areas should allow the planting pace to pick up steam in much of the Cornbelt, with the weekly progress and condition numbers out Monday afternoon. A big area of concern is the northern Cornbelt, with a shorter growing season. If shorter growing varieties are planted in that part of the region, it’d likely lead to lower yields and quality. In any event, there is a very long way to go until this crop is made. Unknown destinations bought 107,600 tons of 2017/18 U.S. corn, but the overall pace remains slow and the weekly numbers for corn were neutral to bearish. Ethanol futures were lower.

The wheat complex was steady to modestly lower on profit taking and technical selling. With less than a month and a half left in the 2017/18 marketing year for wheat, the fundamental outlook is bearish and so were the weekly export numbers. There are domestic weather concerns, but global crop conditions generally look good, with the next set of supply and demand numbers out May 10th. Statistics Canada’s new acreage numbers are out Friday. According to Allendale, the trade expects an increase of 120,000 to 650,000 acres for wheat.