At the close:
At the close, the March corn futures settled 1 1/2¢ higherr at $3.61 1/4, and new crop December 2017 futures finished 1 3/4¢ higher at $3.88 1/4 per bushel. March soybean futures closed 2 3/4¢ lower at $10.12 1/2, while November 2017 soybean futures finished 2 1/2¢ lower at $9.96 1/4. March wheat futures ended 7 3/4¢ higher at $4.26 1/4. March soy meal futures settled $0.90 short ton lower at $318.20. March soy oil futures settled are $0.01 lower at 35.20¢ per pound. In the outside markets, the Brent crude oil market is $0.55 per barrel higher, the U.S. dollar is lower, and the Dow Jones Industrials are 63 points lower at 19,843 points.
Mike
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At 12:35pm:
Market commentary:
Jason Roose, U.S. Commodities, says that with the January crop report just right around the corner, no surprise to see index fund rebalancing, buying corn,wheat and selling soybeans.
“Flooding in Argentina is a concern on their over all acres. So, weather is still giving us volatility, slow farmer selling on corn is also giving the grains support along with lower crop ratings for winter wheat.”
Mike
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At 11:15am:
Record amounts of corn is being used on a weekly basis to produce ethanol, according to the Renewable Fuels Association. Here is the latest:
According to EIA data analyzed by the Renewable Fuels Association, ethanol production averaged an unprecedented 1.043 million barrels per day (b/d)—or 43.81 million gallons daily. That is up 15,000 b/d from the week before and a record high to end a banner year for ethanol production. Weekly production averaged more than 1 million b/d for ten straight weeks to finish the year. The four-week average for ethanol production stood at a record 1.037 million b/d for an annualized rate of 15.90 billion gallons.
Stocks of ethanol remained unchanged at 18.7 million barrel
Mike
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At mid-session:
At mid-session, the March corn futures are 1 3/4¢ higherr at $3.61 1/2, and new crop December 2017 futures are 1 1/2¢ higher at $3.88 1/4 per bushel. March soybean futures are 4 1/4¢ lower at $10.11, while November 2017 soybean futures are 3 3/4¢ lower at $9.95. March wheat futures are 6¢ higher at $4.24 1/2. March soy meal futures are $1.50 short ton lower at $317.60. March soy oil futures are $0.01 lower at 35.20¢ per pound. In the outside markets, the Brent crude oil market is $0.25 per barrel higher, the U.S. dollar is lower, and the Dow Jones Industrials are 98 points lower at 19,843 points.
Pete Meyer, PIRA Energy grain analyst, says that the South American weather story is an “easy excuse” for a rally.
“Losses in Argentina can be somewhat made up, from what I am hearing, a really good Brazilian crop in the 102-103M MT range. The failure of President Macri to reduce Argentina’s export tariff from 30% in 2017 is probably the most supportive thing I’ve heard in beans,” Meyer says.
Brazilian farmers started to harvest some beans as early as two weeks ago. “So, those will be available to the export market in a matter of weeks. Dollar is off from the highs, but still holding its own which will make South American origin beans attractive. I expect a slowdown in bean exports fairly soon,” Meyer says.
“Nice rallies in wheat and corn that producers should be taking advantage of in my opinion,” Meyer says. Prompt corn futures had traded just 7 days above the $3.60 level since July 19th. Six of those occurrences were in December, while the other time was in late November. The highest futures price paid during those instances was $3.6475 on December 13th. Corn is entering an area of high congestion above $3.60.”
So too with wheat above $4.20. The prompt SRW contract has spent but a handful of trading days above the $4.20 level since August 22nd and failed at or near that $4.20 level no less than 5 times in the same period, Meyer says.
Mike
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At 9:05am:
In early trading, the March corn futures are unchanged at $3.59, and new crop December 2017 futures are unchanged at $3.86 per bushel. March soybean futures are 4 3/4¢ lower at $10.10, while November 2017 soybean futures are 3 3/4¢ lower at $9.95. March wheat futures are 3 1/2¢ higher at $4.22. March soy meal futures are $1.90 short ton lower at $317.20. March soy oil futures are $0.06 lower at 35.15¢ per pound. In the outside markets, the Brent crude oil market is $0.43 per barrel higher, the U.S. dollar is lower, and the Dow Jones Industrials are 4 points lower at 19,940 points.
Mike
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Soybeans were lower overnight while corn and wheat were pretty much unchanged. Beans were down about a nickel amid more rain in parts of Argentina and Brazil. There is now some talk that the rain in Argentina is becoming excessive, but just a couple months ago we heard about how the dry weather was going to kill everything, so I'm not putting too much stock into the `too-much-rain-in-South-America' talk just yet. It may be a problem, but for now I'm skeptical. In other news, the Chinese renminbi just had its biggest two-day jump on record, and that may boost purchasing power for Chinese buyers. Let's hope it translates into strong sales for U.S. growers.
Here's what happened overnight:
Brent Crude Oil = 0.8% higher.
West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil = 0.7% higher.
Dollar = down 0.5%.
Wall Street = U.S. stock futures modestly lower in overnight trading.
World Markets = Global stocks mixed amid dollar's decline.
