Market News

Lack of weather threat pressures soybeans, corn

Soybeans were lower on speculative and technical selling. Crop weather generally looks non-threatening and the trade expects a big crop. Weekly old crop exports were a net cancellation, but there have been a few new crop sales reported this week. Thursday, China bought 66,000 tons of old crop and 63,000 tons of new crop, while unknown destinations purchased 65,000 tons of old crop and 263,000 tons of new crop. Soybean meal and oil were lower, following the lead of beans.

Corn was lower on speculative and technical selling. Corn’s also watching weather, and while outlooks for next week in the Western Cornbelt are hot and dry, it’s not expected to last long. Weekly export numbers were neutral to bearish with just about a month left in the marketing year. Ethanol futures were lower. The USDA’s attaché in Russia estimates corn production at 13.5 million tons with exports of 4.1 million tons.

The wheat complex was lower on speculative and technical selling. The fundamentals are bearish, especially on the supply side. It’s still early in the marketing year, but export demand has been better than expected. Still, that’s offset by the supply issues and long term demand is a big uncertainty. The USDA’s Russia attaché now projects production at 65 million tons with exports at 24.5 million tons. Spring wheat yield results from a major crop tour continue to come in below a year ago.