CORN HIGHLIGHTS:

• The corn market failed to find follow-through buying strength after Wednesday’s strong gains following the USDA WASDE Report. Lack of money flow, likely producer selling and a reversal in wheat price pressured corn futures on Thursday’s trade. September corn led the market lower losing 9 cents to 448, while December lost 8 ¾ cents to 472.
• Wheat futures turned quickly session highs on headline that Ukraine has offered a plan for Russia and the Ukraine to stop attacks on civilian target in the Black Sea. No actual agreement is in place, but traders quick removed war premium from the wheat market, which likely pressured corn price even further during the session.
• Despite the rally in corn futures prices on Wednesday, open interest in corn futures only rose by 199 contracts. This signaled the rally was mostly short positions being exited, without new money buying long positions.
• The USDA released weekly corn export sales on Thursday morning. For the week ending August 6, old crop corn sales totaled 411,000 MT (16.2 mb), which was above market expectations. Spain was responsible for over 50% of those purchases. New crop sales were 925,000 MT (36.4 mb) and toward the low end of expectations. Mexico and Japan were the largest buyers of U.S. new crop corn last week.
• The Brazil Ag agency, CONAB, raised their estimates for Brazil’s second crop corn crop buy 1.6 MMT to 111.03 MMT. This brings Brazil’s total corn production to 142.96 MMT for the year, a slightly larger crop than last year.

SOYBEAN HIGHLIGHTS:

• Soybeans were mixed to end the day in bull spreading action after trading mostly higher earlier in the day. Lower crude oil prices pressured soybean oil, and yesterday’s WASDE report was not quite bullish for soybeans as the new crop carryout increased. Weather remains favorable for August with plentiful rains that may end up being too much in some areas.
• September soybeans ended the day up ¾ cent to $11.66 while November lost 1 cent to $11.82-1/4 but remains trading above the 50 and 100-day moving averages. September soybean meal lost $1.10 to $307.40 and fell $5.00 from the morning high. September soybean oil lost 0.37 cents to 68.79 cents as crude oil is down $2.11 to $81.16.
• Today’s export sales report was good for soybeans with an increase of 2.8 million bushels for 25/26 and an increase of 64.7 mb for 26/27. New crop soybean sales remain firm thanks to Chinese purchases. Top destinations were to China, unknown destinations, and Taiwan. Last week’s export shipments of 9.9 mb were below the 15.9 mb needed to meet the USDA’s estimates.
• Yesterday, private exporters reported a sale of 244,000 metric tons of soybeans to China for the 26/27 marketing year. China has now fulfilled around 17% of its commitment to buy 25 mmt of U.S. soybeans this marketing year. The number may be higher if some sales to unknown destinations end up being China.

WHEAT HIGHLIGHTS:

• Wheat futures finished steady to lower today, with early strength fading on reports that Ukraine offered Russia a halt to attacks on civilian targets in the Black Sea. In the September contract, Chicago was unchanged at 652-3/4, Kansas City declined 1/4 cent to 720-1/2, and MIAX dropped 3-3/4 cents to 669-1/4.
• The USDA reported an increase of 9.4 mb of wheat export sales for 26/27. Shipments last week totaled 18.0 mb, which exceeds the 15.2 mb pace needed per week to reach their 775 mb export goal. Total 26/27 wheat export commitments have reached 275 mb, down 32% from last year.
• According to the USDA, as of August 11, U.S. winter wheat areas in drought increased 2% from the prior week to 52%. During the same timeframe, spring wheat acres experiencing drought jumped 5% to 63%. Recently expanding dryness in the northern plains is a concern, though it may also help to support HRS prices.
• DRV, a German farm co-op, reduced their forecast of Germany’s 26/27 wheat production by 1.5 mmt to 20.55 mmt. This is said to be due to the heat and dryness experienced this summer, and if realized, this would be a significantly smaller crop than last year’s at 23.15 mmt.

DAIRY HIGHLIGHTS:

• Class IV futures were up sharply with the nearby contracts gaining 70-80 cents. September settled at $18.87.
• Spot powder gained another 6 cents to settle at $1.71/lb, up 13.25 on the week. Butter was up 2.50 cents to move to $1.4875/lb.
• Class III was mixed today but mostly lower. September closed out the afternoon at $17.33.
• Spot cheese gained a penny for a $1.58625/lb settlement while whey was down 2.75 cents.

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Author

Brandon Doherty