TFM Morning Update 09-18-2026

CORN

Corn futures are mixed to start the day with December corn unchanged at $5.30-1/2 and March down 1/4 cent to $5.44-1/4. The US dollar is trading higher following the Fed’s increase in interest rates which may weigh on commodity prices.
Yesterday’s export sales report was good for corn with an increase of 40.4 million bushels of sales for the 26/27 marketing year. Top buyers were Mexico, Japan, and Colombia.
French maize conditions have hit another lower as harvest continues. They worsened to make a new record low with only 23% of maize rated good to excellent. This is significant with grain shipments out of the Black Sea at a glacial pace.

Soybean futures are lower to start the day with weakness in both products. This could be due to a combination of the higher dollar plus lower crude prices. November soybeans are down 12-3/4 cents to $13.07 while March is down 11-3/4 cents to $13.34. October soybean meal is down $6.40 to $362.30 and soybean oil is down 0.43 cents to 78.25 cents.
Yesterday’s export sales were good for soybeans with an increase of 1,702k tons for 26/27 which compared to last week’s 2,635k tons. China was the top buyer with 875k tons followed by unknown and Mexico.
In Malaysia, biodiesel consumption is expected to rise to 1.4 mmt this year which would be up from 1 million tons last year. They are the second largest producer of palm oil, and this may be a demand indicator for biofuel globally.

All three wheat classes are trading lower this morning pressured by the higher dollar. December Chicago wheat is down 2-1/4 cents to $7.24-3/4, KC is down 1-1/4 cents to $7.93-1/4, and Minn is down 3/4 cent to $7.51-3/4.
Wheat export sales were within trade estimates at 326k tons which compared to 197k a week ago and 388k a year ago. Top buyers were the Philippines, Mexico, and South Korea. Export shipments last week of 18.4 mb were above the 15.0 mb needed each week to meet USDA estimates.
Iran is reportedly re-routing its imports of Russian wheat to the Caspian Sea with shipments out of the Black Sea stalling due to Ukrainian and Russian drone attacks. Iranian purchases of Russian wheat have increased recently.

Amanda Brill