Market News

Wheat down on supply pressure

Soybeans were weak on profit taking and commercial selling. Crop development conditions look good in most major growing areas. The USDA is projecting a record crop this year, along with record demand. The ongoing private crop tour is showing variable pod counts. Soybean meal was lower, following beans, and bean oil was steady to firm. Statistics Canada projects 2016 soybean production at 5.827 million tons, down 6.5% from 2015. Canola production is estimated at 17.024 million tons, 1.2% less than last year.

Corn was modestly lower on profit taking and commercial selling. The national condition rating was up 1% on the week and the USDA is also expecting a record corn crop. Early results from a private crop tour this week have had varied yield estimates. Ethanol futures were lower. China auctioned 148,059 tons of corn from state reserves. China’s COFCO announced plans to by the minority stake in Nidera, for complete ownership of the company. COFCO bought a majority share of Nidera in 2014. Statistics Canada sees the Canadian corn crop at 12.349 million tons, 8.9% below a year ago.

The wheat complex was lower on commercial and speculative selling. The fundamentals continue to be bearish, especially on the supply side. The spring harvest is ahead of average with good near term conditions expected in most of the Northwestern Plains. According to Allendale, Russia’s Ag Ministry, anticipating record production, has recommended lowering the wheat export tax to 0% until July 1st, 2017. Romania’s Ag Ministry estimates production at 8.4 million tons, up 7% on the year and the biggest in a decade. Statistics Canada estimates wheat production at 30.487 million tons, 10.5% higher than 2015. Spring wheat is pegged at 20.247 million tons, up 1.4%, with durum at 6.807 million tons, a 10.5% increase, and winter wheat at 3.434 million tons, a 53.1% jump.