TFM Morning Update 05-15-2026

CORN

Corn is trading lower again this morning as further talks at the summit with Presidents Trump and Xi held basically no discussion of agricultural trade deals. July corn is down 4-3/4 cents to $4.69-3/4 while December is down 4-1/2 cents to $4.86-3/4.
Yesterday’s export sales report so corn sales at 685,200 metric tons which was below trade estimates and was down 50% from the previous week and 52% from the prior 4-week average. Top buyers were Mexico, Colombia, and Japan.
US ethanol stocks fell by 4.4% to 24.87 million bbl according to the US Department of Energy’s weekly petroleum report. Analysts were expecting 25.843 mln bbl. Plant production was at 1.082m b/d which compared to a survey average of 1.042m.

Soybeans are trading sharply lower again this morning as no new trade deals come from the Beijing summit. July soybeans are down 7-1/2 cents to $11.85-1/4 while November is down 8-3/4 cents to $11.74-3/4. July soybean meal is down $2.40 to $323.40 while soybean oil is up 0.01 cents to 73.67 cents.
Key takeaways from the Beijing summit are a commitment by both sides to get the Strait of Hormuz open, trying to point to a stable relationship between countries, and renewing import licenses for hundreds of US beef plants. The previous agreement in which China will buy 25 mmt of beans a year will stay in place, but nothing more.
Yesterday’s export sales report was poor for soybeans with sales at just 182,900 metric tons. This was on the low side of trade expectations and was a marketing year low. Top buyers were Mexico, Indonesia, and China.

All three wheat classes are trading lower this morning along with the rest of the grain complex. July Chicago wheat is down 7-3/4 cents to $6.50-1/4, KC is down 7-1/2 cents to $6.97-3/4, and Minn is down 4 cents to $6.98-1/2.
Yesterday’s export sales report saw wheat sales at 354,600 tons which was on par with trade estimates and was up 70% from the previous week. Top buyers were the Philippines, Mexico, and Indonesia.
Kansas wheat yields are projected to be poor due to the persistent drought. Hard red winter wheat yield is estimated at 39.3 bpa according to data from 177 fields, and this would be well below last year’s yield in the state of 53.3 bpa.

Amanda Brill