Market News
Export demand supports soybeans
Soybeans were sharply higher on commercial and technical buying. Ahead of the open, China bought 132,000 tons of 2021/22 U.S. beans, the fourth business day in a row with a reported sale. The running total of 813,930 tons is mostly to unknown destinations, which could turn out to be China when its time for delivery. The USDA’s weekly export sales numbers are out Thursday at 8:30 Eastern/7:30 Central. Soybean meal and oil futures were higher on commercial buying and strong margins. India, the world’s biggest importer of vegetable oils picked up 30,000 tons of U.S. bean oil Thursday morning. The trade continues to monitor the tail end of U.S. harvest activity, in addition to planting and development conditions in Argentina and Brazil.
Corn was higher on commercial and technical buying. Export demand continues to be slower than anticipated for U.S. corn, so the big bullish factors continue to be the strong cash basis and corn for ethanol demand. The U.S. Energy Information Administration says ethanol production last week averaged 1.06 million barrels a day, up 21,000 on the week and 98,000 on the year. Stocks of 20.081 million barrels were down 205,000 from the previous week and 2.869 million from a year ago. Ethanol futures were unchanged. Corn is also watching U.S. harvest activity, along with conditions in South America. Most forecasts have a turn to drier conditions in most of Argentina and Brazil, probably a sign of a strengthening La Nina pattern.
The wheat complex was higher on commercial and technical buying. Chicago and Kansas City rebounded from their recent losses, focusing on weather challenges for winter wheat. For hard red winter, the concern is already dry conditions in the southern U.S. Plains, which would be exacerbated by La Nina. For soft red winter, the primary issue is excessively wet conditions in the eastern Midwest ahead of the crop heading into dormancy. Dry weather is also a problem for white winter wheat in the northwestern U.S. Plains. The trade is also monitoring railroad damage from flooding in Canada, weather ahead of dormancy in Europe, Russia, and Ukraine, and conditions prior to harvest in Argentina and Australia. Egypt bought 60,000 tons of wheat from Romania.
