Soybeans, corn mixed, but nearbys make more highs

Market News

Soybeans, corn mixed, but nearbys make more highs

Soybeans were steady to firm, with most contracts closing towards the middle of the day’s wide range, but with November managing to notch a contract high. Mexico and unknown destinations bought 152,404 tons and 132,000 tons of 2020/21 U.S. beans, respectively, and while weekly sales were over 2 million tons, with more than half of that to China, the total was below average. Beans are watching planting conditions in South America and U.S. harvest weather. Relief is on the way for parts of Argentina and Brazil, which should help speed up planting, but activity has been delayed by a couple of weeks. Soybean meal was mixed, nearby contracts up and deferred months down on commercial spread trade, and soybean oil was supported by a higher move in crude oil. Soybean products are monitoring shipping out of Argentina, the leading exporter of meal and oil.

Corn was mixed on commercial spread trade, including another one-year high for the December contract. Corn is also watching planting conditions in Argentina and Brazil, along with U.S. harvest weather, with delays in parts of the region. A more widespread snow event and much colder temperatures are in the forecast for parts of the Midwest and Plains next week. Export sales were up on the week and above average, with Japan, China, and Mexico topping the list, but shipments were short of what’s needed to meet projections for the 2020/21 marketing year. Ethanol futures were unchanged. The USDA’s attaché in Ukraine estimates 2020/21 corn production at 32.166 million tons, compared to 35.855 million in 2019/20, with exports of 26 million tons this marketing year, compared to 29.5 million last marketing year.

The wheat complex was lower on profit taking and technical selling. Black Sea prices made another round of new highs heading into the session on drought in Ukraine and Russia, but U.S. futures are overbought. The USDA’s attaché for Ukraine sees 2020/21 wheat production at 24.972 million tons, compared to 29.144 million a year ago, with exports at 15.4 million tons, compared to 21.013 million last year. Dry portions of Argentina’s wheat growing areas are expected to get some relief, rain in Eastern Australia could cause some harm ahead of harvest, and western portions of the European Union could see a drier pattern, allowing for planting to pick up steam. The U.S. Plains are also expected to see an improved weather pattern, at least temporarily. Weekly export numbers were bearish, down on the week and below average, and South Korea bought 130,000 tons of 2020/21 U.S. white winter wheat ahead of the open. DTN says Algeria purchased 600,000 tons of milling wheat from an unknown origin and Japan picked up 80,526 tons of wheat from the U.S. and Canada.

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