CORN HIGHLIGHTS:

• Today was disappointing in the corn market as geopolitical tensions caused strong buying support on the overnight session, only to fade through the day. Selling pressure in wheat and soybean markets limited corn futures as prices finished mixed to lower. May corn futures finished 2 ¾ cents lower to 445 ¾, and the July contract lost 1 ¾ cents to 454 ¼.
• March futures were down 5 ½ cents on the session as the contract is in delivery. The CBOT reported 457 deliveries against the March contract, which likely pressured the front end of the corn market.
• USDA release weekly export inspections on Monday morning. For the week ending February 26. Corn inspections totaled 1.859 MMT (73.2 mb), which was above market expectations. Current corn inspections are 45% above last year and ahead of the USDA target by approximately 330 mb.
• Hedge funds were strong buyers in the corn market last week, trimming their current net short positions to 13,867 contracts as of Tuesday, February 24. With the buying strength into the end of the week, some analysts estimated the funds have moved to a small net long position.
• Brazil second crop corn planting has reached the nearly 2/3 planted stage, and weather conditions look friendly for good crop development.

SOYBEAN HIGHLIGHTS:

• Soybeans were mixed to end the day with losses in the front months but slight gains in November. Soybean meal was pressured by Argentina lifting export taxes, while soybean oil followed crude oil higher. May soybeans lost 6-3/4 cents to $11.64, while November gained ½ cent to $11.28-3/4. May soybean meal lost $7.60 to $312.90 and soybean oil gained 0.89 cents to 62.74 cents.
• Argentina’s President Javier Milei announced today that the country would continue to lower its export taxes “in a responsible manner”. Argentina is the world’s largest exporter of soybean meal, and this move would likely take more export demand away from the US which pressured soybean meal sharply.
• Today’s export inspections report was good for soybeans, totaling 41.8 million bushels for the week ending February 26. This put total inspections for 25/26 at 962 mb, which is down 30% from the previous year. The USDA is estimating soybean exports at 1.575 billion bushels for 25/26.
• Friday’s CFTC report saw funds as buyers of soybeans by 20,591 contracts which increased their net long position to 184,202 contracts, but they are estimated to be long over 200,000 contracts now. They bought 21,493 contracts of soybean oil leaving them long 63,312 contracts and bought 33,457 contracts of meal leaving them long 31,695 contracts.

WHEAT HIGHLIGHTS:

• Wheat closed modestly to sharply lower amid geopolitical uncertainty after the weekend attack against Iran. Wheat had opened the session higher, but China later denounced this attack, leading to a broad commodity selloff. In addition, the U.S. dollar moved up to the highest level in over a month, pressuring grains. In the May contract, Chicago fell 14-1/4 cents to 577-1/4, Kansas City declined 5-3/4 cents to 574-3/4, and MIAX slipped 2-3/4 cents to 610.
• Weekly wheat export inspections totaled 12.6 mb, bringing the 25/26 inspections figure to 684 mb, up 19% from last year. Wheat inspections are currently running above the USDA’s estimated pace; exports for 25/26 are projected at 900 mb, up 9% from the year prior.
• According to Friday’s CFTC Commitments of Traders report, as of the week ending February 24, managed funds purchased a record amount of Chicago wheat contracts at nearly 51,000. This still leaves them net short about 17,000 contracts. Meanwhile, during the same period they purchased about 15,000 Kansas City contracts, reversing their position to net long for the first time since August of 2023, at just over 4,000 contracts.
• Saudi Arabia is reported to have purchased 794,000 mt of wheat in their tender. This amount was greater than the 655,000 mt originally sought and is expected to be delivered in the May to July timeframe. The price paid is reportedly between about $265 – $283 on a CNF basis; it is expected to be sourced from the Black Sea area.
• According to the Ukrainian National Academy of Agrarian Sciences, up to 20% of the winter crops in some fields could be lost because of severe frosts in February. The wheat market seemed to largely shrug off these reports today, perhaps due to the scientists also reporting that Ukrainian winter crops (that were not damaged) are currently in relatively satisfactory condition.

DAIRY HIGHLIGHTS:

• Class III futures were mixed in today’s action with March falling a nickel to $16.23.
• Spot cheese fell 0.875 cents today to settle at $1.5325/lb while whey gave back a half cent to move to $0.6275/lb.
• Class IV action was all over the place with most contracts falling off their morning highs, despite the butter trade. March finished at $19.66.
• Spot butter posted a massive 26.50 cents gain, closing at $2.1050/lb. Powder gave back 4 cents to move to $1.67/lb.

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Author

Amanda Brill