Market News

Soybeans consolidate after recent volatility

Soybeans were mixed, mostly firm, consolidating after Monday’s sharply lower move and last Friday’s sharply higher activity. It was an up and down day, with traders watching development weather and the effects of tariffs. The USDA’s new supply and demand numbers out Thursday will factor in those tariffs. The reports are out at Noon Eastern/11 AM Central. Weather is generally considered to be non-threatening, but parts of the Midwest will need to see improved precipitation ahead of some key development phases. At this point in the season, most analysts don’t anticipate significant adjustments to the crop production estimate. Soybean meal and oil were up modestly on oversold signals.

Corn was lower on commercial and technical selling. The USDA says the U.S. crop is in good overall shape and development is faster than average in many key growing areas, potentially leading to an early harvest. The quality of this year’s crop will also depend on timely rainfall and a lack of heat stress during pollination. Egypt bought U.S. corn, 60,000 tons of old crop and 53,000 tons of new crop, while Mexico canceled on 152,000 tons of 2017/18 U.S. sorghum. The USDA’s weekly export numbers are out Thursday morning, ahead of those new supply, demand, and production projections. Ethanol futures were lower. The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s weekly ethanol production and stocks numbers are out Wednesday.

The wheat complex was lower on commercial and technical selling. 80% of the spring wheat crop is rated good to excellent, with faster than average development. The winter wheat harvest is a little slower than last year, but ahead of average. The trade’s monitoring U.S. spring wheat development weather, along with conditions in parts of Canada, Europe, the Black Sea region, and China, and the impact of tariffs on export demand. Ahead of Thursday’s reports, changes to the U.S. and world balance sheets are expected to be minimal. DTN says Egypt is tendering for an unspecified amount of milling wheat, Jordan is in the market for 120,000 tons of milling wheat, and Japan is tendering for 62,865 tons of milling wheat from the U.S. and/or Australia.