CORN
- Corn remains higher at midday, marking its sixth consecutive day of gains, supported in part by the EU’s announcement to pause any tariff countermeasures.
- Drought conditions across U.S. corn-growing regions declined by 11 percentage points, now affecting only 28% of the area.
- Argentine corn harvest was slowed down by the rain and moved to 23% completed. The Buenos Aires Exchange left production unchanged at 49 mmt while the Rosario’s exchange rose their corn production by 4 mmt to 48.5 mmt.
- CONAB raised Brazil’s corn production by 2 mmt to 124.7 mmt, just below USDA’s 126 mmt.
SOYBEANS
- Soybeans continue to move higher at midday, despite escalating trade tensions between the U.S. and China. Soybean oil and soybean meal are also posting gains midday Friday.
- Rumors persist that China will continue purchasing large volumes of Brazilian soybeans through September, pushing Brazil’s FOB values higher and placing them at a premium of nearly 20 cents per bushel to the U.S.
- The percentage of U.S. soybean-growing areas under drought dropped 11 points over the past week to just 22%, following much-needed rainfall.
- USDA confirms the sale of 121,000 tons of US soybeans for delivery to unknown destinations. 55 tons is for 24/25 and the remaining 66 ton is for 25/26.
WHEAT
- Wheat continues to push higher at midday, managing to overcome some of the bearish pressure from Thursday’s WASDE report.
- Wheat futures are gaining throughout Friday’s session, supported by a weakening U.S. Dollar Index, which has dropped to its lowest level since last September.
- With warm and dry conditions expected in the southwestern Plains, the extended U.S. forecast has led to some fund short-covering early Friday. At the same time, the Southern Plains hard winter wheat regions are facing extreme dryness, which could result in another drop in crop conditions.
- Western Australia’s planted wheat area is expected to decline by 400,000 hectares, or 9%, while warm, dry conditions are forecast to persist in the Black Sea region through the end of April. Meanwhile, ongoing dryness in Eurasian wheat areas is also affecting winter wheat.