Market News
Corn, wheat fall after USDA numbers
Soybeans were mostly lower. The trade is watching the weather, with some forecasts showing a more moderate pattern for parts of the region. The USDA says fewer acres than expected were planted in 2022, falling short of 90 million with around 16 million acres unplanted as of June 1st, while quarterly stocks were up on the year. Old crop soybean export sales were a net reduction and marketing year low following a cancellation by unknown destinations, while new crop failed to break 130,000 tons. China purchased 16,400 tons for 2021/22 and no soybeans, officially, for 2022/23. Soybean meal was mixed, consolidating, and bean oil was down sharply on a drop in crude oil after OPEC confirmed it was raising production in August.
Corn was sharply lower on fund and technical selling. Corn acreage was up from the March prospective planting report and quarterly stocks were larger than this time last year. Near-term development conditions are generally seen as non-threatening. Old crop corn export sales were a marketing year low with solid demand from Japan and South Korea partially offset by a cancellation from unknown destinations, while new crop sales were just short of 120,000 tons. China did not buy any U.S. corn last week. Brazil’s government says it wants to push 2022/23 grain production to a record 300 million tons, boosted by record large financing and better than expected fertilizer procurement from Russia. Second crop corn harvest activity is ongoing in Brazil, with Datagro projecting production at 116.1 million tons, compared to their last guess of 114.35 million tons.
The wheat complex was sharply lower on fund and technical selling. U.S. wheat acreage was a little bit larger than expected and up on the year, while quarterly stocks were just above the average pre-report guess. The USDA’s next round of supply, demand, and production numbers is out July 12th. The USDA will be resurveying producers in Minnesota and the Dakotas following planting delays earlier in the season with the results out August 12th. Egypt bought 820,000 tons of wheat Wednesday, Cairo’s largest purchase in more than a decade, from France, Romania, Russia, and Bulgaria. U.S. soft red winter prices are competitive, but that’s at least partially blunted by high freight rates. Export sales were up on the week and while the 2022/23 pace is behind 2021/22, it is still early in the marketing year. Last week’s big buyers were the Philippines and Brazil.
