Corn, soybeans up ahead of holiday weekend

Market News

Corn, soybeans up ahead of holiday weekend

Soybeans closed modestly higher on short covering and technical buying, with contracts pulling out of mixed territory late and ending the week solidly higher. Beans were watching weather, expecting a move to a wetter, cooler pattern in many areas during the first full week of September. Some yield loss is probable from the hot, dry pattern seen in many areas during August, but the full extent likely won’t be known until harvest wraps up. IHS Markit, formerly Informa, pegs the crop at 4.323 billion bushels with an average yield of 52.1 bushels per acre. China bought 318,000 tons of U.S. beans Friday, bringing the week’s total of announced sales to 900,000 tons, all to either China or unknown destinations, and the Philippines picked up 175,000 tons of U.S. soybean meal for delivery after October 1st. Soybean meal was higher and bean oil was lower on the adjustment of product spreads. Celeres has Brazil’s new soybean crop at 131.4 million tons, compared to 130.8 million in August, with planting just getting underway. Statistics Canada says canola stocks at the end of July were 2.741 million tons, down 34.3% on the year because of solid export demand.

Corn was modestly higher on short covering and technical buying, but many months still closed out the week modestly lower. Corn was also watching the weather, including a chance for a frost or freeze in northern areas during the coming week. Additionally, drought continues to expand in parts of the Midwest and Plains and the full impact of the derecho storm is still being digested. The USDA’s next set of supply, demand, and production numbers is out September 11th. Ahead of the report, some analysts have factored in expected acreage losses from the storm, while others have disregarded lost potential, at least for now. IHS Markit, formerly Informa, sees the crop at 14.961 billion bushels with an average yield of 178.1 bushels per acre. China did buy more than a million tons of U.S. corn this week as Beijing seeks to limit domestic price inflation and shore up feed supplies. Ethanol futures were unchanged. Celeres has Brazil’s first corn crop at 30 million tons, unchanged on the month, as planting starts a little early in some areas.

The wheat complex was modestly lower on fund and technical selling, along with the firm dollar. The December contracts at the three U.S. pits still managed a firm to modestly higher weekly finish, with support from what has been a mostly lower trend in the dollar. Winter wheat planting is underway in parts of the southern Plains, helped out by recent rainfall. That frost or freeze in the northern Plains could damage parts of the spring wheat crop. Still, an overriding influence continues to be expectations for large, if not record, global production and supplies, limiting the upside. Statistics Canada says all wheat stocks at the end of July were 5.028 million tons, a decline of 14.6% on the year, led by a 63.2% drop in durum to 660,000 tons because of strong export demand. The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange says the recent planted wheat crop has been helped by rain in some areas, but dry weather in previous months has sapped the crop’s full potential. DTN says Jordan is tendering for 120,000 tons of milling wheat, while Egypt bought 55,000 tons of wheat from Russia.

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