Market News
Soybeans, wheat continue rally
Soybeans were sharply higher on commercial and technical buying, building on last week’s rally. Chinese soybean meal prices were sharply higher heading into the U.S. session on reports crushers have idled because of their very tight supply of beans. The trade is monitoring shipping issues for both Argentina and Brazil, along with operations being suspended at one major industrial facility in Brazil that’s expected to impact crushing. Soybean meal was sharply higher on demand expectations and oil followed the lead. Weekly export inspections on beans were less than what’s needed to meet USDA projections. The current marketing year for beans runs through the end of August.
Corn was mostly firm on commercial spread adjustments, with nearby contracts steady to weak and deferred months up modestly. Corn export demand is slow and it remains to be seen if last week’s purchase by China was a one-off or the start of a trend. Weekly export inspections for corn continued to be slow, but sorghum topped what’s needed to meet expectations for the current marketing year. The USDA’s prospective planting and quarterly stocks numbers are still scheduled for Tuesday, March 31st at Noon Eastern/11 Central. Parts of the Corn Belt are expected to see another round of wet weather this week. Ethanol futures were lower.
The wheat complex was higher on commercial and technical buying, with the strongest gains in Chicago and Kansas City. Cash demand is strong with retailers looking to keep store shelves full of wheat products. Paris milling wheat futures were higher ahead of the U.S. trading day, but the Euro has been trending lower, aiding their competitiveness on the global market. The European Union’s MARS agency has its’ 2020 soft wheat yield projection at 5.88 tonnes per hectare, 2.1% less than 2019. Weekly export inspections for U.S. wheat were bearish, but with less than a quarter left in 2019/20, the pace remains ahead of 2018/19. The USDA’s Friday report of 340,000 tons of 2019/20 U.S. hard red winter wheat was corrected to 55,000 tons for 2019/20 and 285,000 tons for 2020/21. DTN says Turkey is tendering for 200,000 tons of milling wheat and Algeria is in the market for 50,000 tons of milling wheat.
