Market News
Soybeans manage to hold onto fractional gains
Soybeans was fractionally higher on short covering and technical buying, closing towards the middle of the day’s range. Near-term weather forecasts are generally dry for many key U.S. growing areas, potentially stressing the crop, but some areas are expected to see rain next week, pulling contracts down late. Temperatures are expected to be hotter next week in many key U.S. growing areas as well. China bought 192,000 tons of 2020/21 U.S. soybeans, their first announced purchase since last Friday. There are no current public plans for the resumption of trade talks between the U.S. and China. U.S. prices continue to hold a substantial discount to Brazil. Soybean meal was mixed, consolidating, and bean oil was firm.
Corn was modestly lower on fund and technical selling. Corn is also watching development weather, with much of the region expected to remain dry into late next week. The trade is also keeping an eye on yield estimates from private crop tours and damage reports following last week’s derecho. Some the crop has likely been lost, but the full extent probably won’t be known until harvest wraps up. Grain storage facilities were also casualties of last week’s storm. Ethanol futures were higher. The U.S. Energy Information Administration says ethanol production last week average 926,000 barrels a day, up 8,000 on the week, but down 97,000 on the year, while stocks were reported at 20.270 million barrels, an increase of 520,000 from the previous week, but a decrease of 3.097 million from a year ago.
The wheat complex was higher on short covering and technical buying. There was more talk of new export demand during the session and the dollar index has dropped over the past few months. Wheat is also monitoring global crop conditions and U.S. harvest activity. The domestic spring wheat harvest pace is expected to benefit from weather, while the winter wheat harvest should wrap up soon. U.S. winter wheat planting will get underway in September in the southwestern Plains. A co-op in Germany puts wheat production at 21.1 million tons, compared to 22.8 million a year ago. DTN says Japan is tendering for 117,063 tons of food wheat from the U.S., Australia, and Canada, and 80,000 tons of feed wheat, while Jordan is in the market for 120,000 tons of milling wheat.
