Market News

Soybeans give back some gains

Soybeans were lower on profit taking and technical selling. Beans were overbought after the recent strength, but losses were limited by demand. China and unknown destinations each bought 132,000 tons of 2020/21 U.S. beans, the eighth business day in a row with an announced sale, bringing the running total to 3.192 million tons. Near-term weather conditions generally look good for late development in the Midwest, but there is the potential for frost/freeze damage in some northern areas. The USDA’s national condition rating has slipped recently as the crop continues to show the impact of conditions during August. The NOPA says member firms crushed 165.055 million bushels of soybeans during August, lower than expected and a new multi-month low. Soybean meal and oil followed beans lower.

Corn was lower on profit taking and technical selling. Near-term weather forecasts mostly look warmer and drier, which should speed up harvest activity. Harvest is underway with most of the progress in southern areas of the Corn Belt. The trade will be watching yield numbers closely following the drought or near drought conditions and derecho during August. The USDA did lower the production guess last week, cutting 550,000 acres from the harvested area estimate, all from Iowa. Unknown destinations purchased 120,000 tons of U.S. corn, following up on the reported sales Monday, including a big sale to China. The European Union’s crop service MARS lowered its corn yield estimate because of drought in western and southeastern portions of the growing region, but the projection is still larger than average. Ethanol futures were unchanged. The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s weekly ethanol production and supply numbers are out Wednesday. The U.S. Grains Council says it does not expect world ethanol production to return to pre-COVID-19 levels until 2022.

The wheat complex was lower on fund and technical selling, along with the higher dollar index. The global fundamental outlook remains bearish, with the USDA projecting record large production and supply estimates last week. Stateside, the end is near for the spring wheat harvest and winter wheat planting is ahead of average, with recent rain in the southern Plains aiding prospects. Globally, the trade is watching harvest and development conditions in several nations, including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Russia, and Ukraine. France’s Ag Ministry lowered the soft wheat production guess to 29.479 million tons, a drop of 25.5% on the year. DTN says several nations have open wheat import tenders, but it remains to be seen how much of that business will go to the U.S.