Market News
Corn, soybeans supported by USDA acreage numbers
Soybeans were sharply higher on commercial and technical buying. The USDA’s planted area total was up from March, but smaller than what analysts were expecting heading into the report. Quarterly stocks were close to expectations, down on the year, even with slower third quarter usage. The USDA’s next set of supply and demand estimates is out July 10th. Concerns about China were on the back burner but will likely resurface during this holiday-shortened week. Soybean meal and oil were supported by commercial buying. The USDA’s soybean crush numbers for May, out on the 1st, are expected to show a crush of 180.7 million bushels.
Corn was sharply higher on commercial and technical buying. Corn planted area was reported at 92 million acres, less than expected, but still up 3% on the year. Now, the trade is watching development conditions, including dry weather in some areas and excessive moisture in other. Quarterly stocks were larger than anticipated on slow demand from the export, feed, and fuel sectors. Ethanol futures were steady to modestly higher. The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s weekly ethanol production and supply numbers are out Wednesday, along with the monthly numbers for May.
The wheat complex was higher on commercial and technical buying. All wheat acreage was as expected, the lowest in about a century, and down 2% from 2019. That includes a 2% decrease in winter wheat and a 4% decline for spring wheat. Old crop wheat stocks were above pre-report estimates. Minneapolis outgained Chicago and Kansas City on concerns about dry weather in parts of the northern U.S. Plains. The USDA’s next set of production numbers is out July 10th. DTN says Jordan bought “about” 60,000 tons of hard wheat and a South Korean feed mill purchased 60,000 tons of feed wheat, while Thailand is tendering for 236,800 tons of feed wheat. Consulting firm Agritel has Ukraine’s wheat crop at 26.25 million tons, down 7.2% on the year because of weather and lower planted area.
