CORN HIGHLIGHTS:

• Corn futures saw a fifth straight day of selling as prices are still looking to find a near-term bottom. Strong selling and a reversal off session highs in the wheat market helped pressure corn futures. Dec corn closed at its lowest price point since the April 18 set of lows.
• The technical picture remains weak in the corn market, leaving the door open for additional downside pressure as price broke through trendline support on the December futures on Monday.
• USDA will release planting progress and the first crop ratings for corn on the afternoon planting progress report. Expectations are for planting to reach 92% complete as of Sunday. This will be up 9% from last week. Analysts are expecting the first crop ratings to be near 70% good to excellent.
• Weekly export inspections for corn were strong last week. U.S. exports shipped 1.374 MMT (54.1 mb) of corn last week, up from the previous week’s total. Total inspections in 2023-24 are now at 1.486 bb, up 26% over last year.
• USDA announced a flash sale of corn on Monday morning. Exporters sold 110,000 MT (4.3 mb) of corn to Spain for the 2023-24 marketing year.

SOYBEAN HIGHLIGHTS:

• Soybeans ended the day sharply lower, making a fifth consecutively lower close in the July contract and is now down 73 3/4 cents from last week’s high. Both soybean meal and oil ended the day lower as well, but soybean oil posted the majority of losses. Pressure is likely coming from the anticipation of today’s crop progress report showing soybean planting pace at a good speed.
• Estimates for today’s Crop Progress report are that soybeans will be between 75% and 83% planted with an average guess of 80%. This would compare to 68% completion last week. If wet weather persists, there is a possibility that some corn acres will shift to soybeans.
• Soybean crush in the month of April has been estimated at 175.5 million bushels as analysts expect that the USDA will peg crush at a 7-month low. If realized, this would be down 13.9% from the 203.7 mb crushed in March and down 6.1% from April 2023.
• Today’s export inspections report showed an increase of 12.8 mb of soybean inspections as of May 30. This puts total inspections for 23/24 at 1.481 billion bushels and is down 17% from the previous year. The USDA has estimated soybean exports at 1.700 bb for 23/24 which is down 15% from the previous year.

WHEAT HIGHLIGHTS:

• All three wheat classes closed lower today after volatile trade which saw Chicago wheat trade as much as 19 cents higher before fading into the close. KC wheat led the complex lower as trade anticipates good crop conditions in today’s report.
• In today’s Crop Progress Report, trade is estimating that spring wheat will be 95% planted which compares to 88% a week ago, and expectations are that crop conditions will be 69% good to excellent, the first ratings we will get for this crop. Winter wheat is estimated to be rated 48% good to excellent which would be steady from last week, and 3% of the crop is expected to be harvested.
• In Russia, two large consultancies have reduced their estimates for the Russian wheat crop to between 78 and 82 mmt which is well below the USDA’s recent estimate of 88 mmt. Temperatures are hotter than normal, reaching up to 100 degrees and it is dry as well. Russian cash values have increased as production estimates fall.
• Today’s export inspections report showed an increase of 15.3 million bushels of soybean inspections for the week ending May 30. This put total wheat inspections at 687 million bushels for 23/24 which is down 6% from last year. The USDA is estimating total wheat exports at 720 mb for 23/24 which is down 5% from last year.

DAIRY HIGHLIGHTS:

• Class III turned higher today with 2024 futures contracts trading 2-35 cents higher thanks to a higher cheese trade. The 2024 Class III average also added 13 cents to close at $18.55/cwt.
• Spot cheese was finally able to see positive momentum after 9 lackluster sessions. Spot cheese gained 5 cents to close at $1.9250/lb.
• Class IV futures also saw a slight bump higher, thanks to a higher butter market. September futures led the way trading 14 cents higher to $21.96/cwt.
• Spot butter was able to gain back much of what was lost early last week. Spot butter gained 3 cents on Monday to trade back above $3.10/lb at $3.12/lb.

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Author

John Heinberg