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Barge Traffic All But Halted on The Mississippi

Grains were lower to mixed in the overnight session, while crude oil and S&P futures were lower and the US dollar higher in the night trade.

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Markets close at regular time today, 1:20 pm CDT. The futures market is closed on Friday, Jan 1 and reopens Sunday, Jan 3 at 7:00 pm CDT

Grains were lower to mixed in the overnight session, while crude oil and S&P futures were lower and the US dollar higher in the night trade.

Much of the middle section of the Mississippi remained closed, including St. Louis' municipal harbor, officials said. Waters remained in moderate or major flood stages following heavy rain and snowfall earlier this week that all but halted barge traffic on the Mississippi and other rivers in the central United States. The Mississippi River at St. Louis was forecast to crest at the second-highest level ever on Thursday while river conditions could return to normal by late next week, government officials and barge traders said.

In South America, the weather forecast for the first half of January continues to suggest a surge in rain for Northern Brazil, which should ease dryness. The coming week is of critical importance and if the advertised 1.00 to 3.00 inches of rain fall across much of Brazil’s driest areas, as advertised, many crops will respond positively with a burst in more aggressive development. Early planted beans may find the precipitation coming too late since harvesting of the first crop often begins later in January and early February.

For wheat, Russia’s cold snap in winter wheat country is likely to be short-lived and is only hitting about 15% of the wheat crop. Yesterday, Jordan bought 100,000 MT of wheat. The Rosario Grain Exchange puts the Argentine wheat harvest at 75% complete vs 88% this time last year.

In crude oil, fundamentals still point to oversupply. Crude inventories in the United States rose 2.6 million barrels last week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a drawdown of 2.5 million barrels. Stockpiles hit record highs at the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery hub for U.S. crude's West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures. Gasoline and heating oil also posted larger-than-expected stock builds.

WEEKLY EXPORT SALES

Actual Expected

Corn 705 600-800

Soybeans 578 1,000-1,400

Wheat 363 250-450

The risk of trading futures, hedging, and speculating can be substantial. Grain Hedge is a dba of Foremost Trading LLC (NFA ID: 0307930)

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