Market News

Corn, soybeans down, watching weather forecasts

Soybeans were lower on speculative and technical selling, with July settling near two-year lows. Large sections of the Midwest are expected to see a very hot weekend, but with a less threatening pattern in most areas next week. With a quarter left in the marketing year, export numbers were neutral. The U.S. could announce official tariffs on China as early as Friday. How many products could be included in the tariffs remains a question mark. Soybean meal was lower and bean oil was higher on the adjustment of product spreads. Brazil’s soybean industry continues to struggle to get back on track after a recent labor strike paralyzed interior movement and the loading of boats at key ports. Informa Economics projects 2018 U.S. soybean acreage at 89.9 million, compared to the USDA’s last guess of 89.0 million.

Corn was sharply lower on speculative and technical selling. Traders were also watching the weather ahead of what should be a hot weekend in much of the region, followed by a generally less stressful pattern. Informa Economics estimates 2018 corn planted area at 88.7 million acres, compared to the USDA’s last official projection of 88.0 million. The USDA’s updated 2018 acreage numbers and quarterly stocks are out on the 29th, while new supply and demand numbers are due July 12th. Combined old and new crop export sales were at the high end of estimates, with sales picking up steam because of concerns about Brazil’s second crop. Ethanol futures were lower. The trade is also keeping an eye on conditions in northeastern China.

The wheat complex was lower on speculative and technical selling, along with the higher U.S. Dollar index. The fundamental outlook remains bearish, with rain in the forecast for parts of Canada and the Black Sea region, mostly Ukraine. That precipitation is expected to miss the drier parts of Russia. The near-term winter wheat harvest pace in the Plains should remain in high gear because of domestic weather. Japan bought 79,630 tons of U.S. food wheat, along with 28,010 tons from Australia and 23,430 tons from Canada. Iraq purchased 100,000 tons of wheat from Australia. France’s AgriMer pegs 2017/18 soft wheat exports to non-European Union nations at 8.4 million tons, unchanged from the previous estimate.

Add Comment

Your email address will not be published.


 

Stay Up to Date

Subscribe for our newsletter today and receive relevant news straight to your inbox!