Market News

Soybeans, corn finish modestly higher

Soybeans were modestly higher on commercial and technical buying. The USDA says Bangladesh bought 110,000 tons of old crop U.S. beans. The trade’s got an eye on Friday, with USDA issuing updated acreage and quarterly stocks numbers. The USDA says that as of Sunday, 94% of U.S. beans have emerged, compared to the five year average of 91%, and 9% are blooming, compared to 7% on average. 66% of the crop is in good to excellent shape, down 1% on the week. Soybean meal was higher and bean oil was lower on the adjustment of product spreads.

Corn was modestly higher on commercial and technical buying. Near term weather forecasts are generally non-threatening, but longer term outlooks do show hotter temperatures for some areas. According to the USDA, 4% of U.S. corn is silking, compared to 5% on average, and 67% of the crop is in good to excellent condition, unchanged from last week. Last Friday’s USDA cattle on feed report at least implies increased feed demand because of the higher placements number. Ethanol futures were higher.

The wheat complex was mixed. Minneapolis was higher, supported by concerns about spring wheat conditions ahead of the USDA’s weekly crop update. The USDA reports condition rating for spring wheat was down another 2% to 39% good to excellent, with 32% rated fair and another 28% called poor to very poor. 36% has headed, compared to 35% on average. Chicago and Kansas City were down on harvest and supply pressure. For winter wheat, 41% of the crop is harvested, compared to 39% on average, and 49% of the crop is in good to excellent shape, steady with a week ago, but with 1% moving from good to excellent. Iraq is tendering for 50,000 tons of milling wheat from the U.S., Australia, and Canada.