Corn Slightly Higher this Week
- December CBOT corn futures added 9-3/4 cents this week to close at 667-3/4
- March CBOT corn futures added 7 cents this week to close at 670
- Mexico accounted for 79% of the weekly corn export sales total this week, corn sales are still running 14% behind the five-year average pace
- Russia agreed Thursday to extend the Black Sea grain deal another 120 days (until March 18), this added headwinds to the grain markets
- Technical action in the corn market was positive this week after weakness last week, prices, for now, have held the lower end of the range dating back to late August
Soybeans Lower this Week
- January CBOT soybean futures shed 21-3/4 cents this week to close at 1428-1/4
- March CBOT soybean futures shed 20-1/2 cents this week to close at 1433-1/4
- China topped the list of buyers for US soybeans last week at 1.5 million tons, Mexico and unknown buyers rounded out the top three
- NOPA crush for the month of October was spot on with trade guesses at 184.5 million bushels; This was very similar to levels from October 2020 and 2021
- Soybean oil futures plunged lower this week posting their largest weekly decline in over two months; This added weakness to soybean futures
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Wheat Prices Lower for the Week
- December CBOT wheat futures shed 10-1/2 cents this week to close at 803-1/4
- December KCBOT wheat futures shed 9-1/4 cents this week to close at 934-1/4
- December MGEX wheat futures added 5-3/4 cents this week to close at 951-1/2
- In October China’s wheat imports reached 1.24 million tons, up 157% from last October; Year to date Chinese wheat imports are down 2.6%
- Anticipated active grain exports out of Ukraine, a strengthening US dollar, and sliding crude oil prices added to the weakness in wheat this week
Dairy Markets Starting to Sour?
There was little to get excited about in today’s dairy trade. Spot butter traded lower 13 cents on the day to $2.81/lb, wiping away gains from earlier in the week. Spot whey was unchanged at $0.44/lb the entire week on minimal trading. Spot cheese was mixed, down over 5 cents on the week to settle at $2.08/lb, blocks were higher on the week but brought down by the heavy selling pressure of barrels, which were down over 13 cents on the week. Spot powder was lower by just over two cents on the week to settle at $1.4275/lb. With the negative spot trade and very little fundamental news, Class III second month contracts were down a nickel on the week to $21.53, while the 2023 average was down over 12 cents on the week to $20.267. Class IV second month futures were down significantly on Friday, losing 45 cents, and although the contract was still up 7 cents on the week, the selling pressure on Friday wiped away strong gains from Tuesday and Wednesday’s trade.
Author
Keegan Madigan