Market News

Commercial demand, dollar support wheat

 

Soybeans were lower on fund and speculative selling. Contracts were up early, selling off pretty shortly after the open. Weekly export numbers were neutral, but China was the big weekly buyer. Thursday, China bought 120,000 tons of 2015/16 U.S. beans. Wednesday’s USDA report was a little bullish and the trade’s watching harvest activity, with the chance for delays over the next few days. Soybean meal was lower and bean oil was steady to weak. The USDA reports the August soybean crush was 4.38 million tons, down from July. Crude bean oil production was 1.64 billion pounds, with a refined total of 1.41 billion.

Corn was mixed, with nearby contracts up and deferred months steady to weak. Corn’s also watching harvest activity, with the potential for slowdowns due to heavy rain in parts of the Eastern Cornbelt because of Hurricane Joaquin. Weekly export numbers for corn were bearish. There’s a pretty good chance USDA will lower the export estimate for the 2015/16 marketing year on October 9th. Ethanol futures were higher.

The wheat complex was higher on commercial and technical buying, along with the lower dollar. For the first time in a while, Wednesday’s USDA numbers were a positive and wheat’s still considered to be a good value around current price levels. However, demand remains unexceptional, with another bearish week for the export numbers. Japan bought 63,300 tons of U.S. food wheat, along with 32,700 tons from Canada and 32,500 tons from Australia. The trade’s also watching dry weather concerns in Australia, Russia, and Ukraine.