CORN
- May corn up 7 @ 5.40, Dec up 5 @ 4.80
- No rain in Argentina forecast for next week
- Spread trading remains firm this week & today
- Ethanol margins seeing support from energy values
- No daily exports today
- Double crop planting well underway in Brazil but behind usual pace
SOYBEANS
- May up 11 @ 14.21, Nov up 11 @ 12.41
- US and world ending stocks look to tighten further
- March extremely important for Argentine’s crop to receive ample rainfall
- 10% of Argentine soybeans rated good/excellent 70% rated normal
- Cargill Inc expanding soybean processing capacity at 2 large crush plants
- Brazil building up steam & a record long line of ships to load
WHEAT
- May up 2 @ 6.53, KC May up 2 @ 6.23, MNPLS May up 2 @ 6.46
- US Europe weather ok and world supply still burdensome
- Mild winter in Russia improved crop conditions dramatically
- French wheat rated 88% of soft wheat in good/excellent condition
- USD trading back to the upper end of the range
- US plains should see warmer weather, bringing the crop closer to exiting dormancy
CATTLE
- April LC up .20 @ 118.75 & May FC up .10 @ 142.75
- As more and more reopening’s occur, expanding pipeline supports
- Traders nervous of further investment as fundamentals didn’t strengthen this week
- Today’s slaughter est. at 121K head
- Feeder Cattle Index for Mar 3, down 1.10 @ 136.07
- Open interest lost 5543 for April futures & lost 713 for March FC
HOGS
- April hogs down .25 @ 87.05 & May Pork Cutout up .47 @ 97.30
- China strong buyer & may help market hold in consolidation
- Deferred futures up today, however failure to hold last week’s high
- Hog slaughter estimated at 491K head
- Cash lean index for March 2 up .64 @ 83.27
- O/I: Lost 3632 positions for April hogs & pork cutout futures gained 9 positions
Author
Amberlee Bratcher