Grains, oilseeds mostly lower ahead of day off

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Grains, oilseeds mostly lower ahead of day off

Soybeans were modestly lower on profit taking and technical selling, not holding on to the session’s early gains ahead of Thanksgiving. U.S. harvest activity should be over soon and near-term conditions in South America are mostly favorable. There’s talk that with the faster than average planting pace, parts of Brazil could be able to start harvest as soon as late December. That’s been part of the reason why China has chosen to focus most of its purchase efforts on new crop Brazilian beans. Unknown destinations bought 330,000 tons of 2021/22 U.S. beans Wednesday morning, while India purchased 30,000 tons of 2021/22 U.S. bean oil. The USDA’s weekly export sales report is out Friday morning. Soybean meal was lower and bean oil was higher, adjusting product spreads. Bean oil had additional support from higher moves in global vegetable oils.

Corn was modestly lower on profit taking and technical selling, unable to follow through on a firm start to the session. Mexico picked up 100,000 tons of U.S. corn ahead of the open and demand for ethanol and feed use continues to be solid. Corn is also watching South America, especially the potential impact of the emerging La Nina pattern in Argentina and Brazil. Commodity markets are closed Thursday, reopening Friday morning before an early close. The U.S. Energy Information Administration says ethanol production was up 19,000 barrels on the week and 89,000 on the year at 1.079 million barrels a day. Stocks of 20.164 million barrels were 83,000 above the previous week, but 702,000 below a year ago. Ethanol futures were unchanged.

The wheat complex was mixed, mostly lower. Chicago and Kansas City made new highs before those losses, with Chicago leading the way down on profit taking, while Minneapolis was mostly weak, adjusting spreads. Minneapolis and Kansas City continue to have the most relatively bullish demand arguments thanks to higher protein levels. Drought is expected to expand in parts of the southern U.S. Plains, while wet conditions are a concern in portions of the eastern Midwest. Globally, the trade has an eye on dry weather in areas of Ukraine, while heavy rain in eastern Australia is impacting crop quality. Contracts are overbought, but the tighter global supply is bullish, at least in the background, with the next set of supply and demand estimates out December 9th.

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