Grain markets were mixed overnight in narrow trade with corn and wheat fractionally higher and soybeans trading lower. Crude oil started the week in a bearish mood, losing another $1 a barrel and hitting fresh 7-year lows while S&P futures were modestly lower.
Argentine President Mauricio Macri said on Monday he would sign a decree before the end of the day eliminating export taxes on wheat and corn, and cutting the export tax on soybeans from 35 percent to 30 percent. These were the measures he campaigned on and have been largely expected since he was elected into office 3 weeks ago.
Last Friday, USDA as part of their long-term forecasts for budget planning put 2016 corn acres higher than this year while they expect soybean and wheat acres to fall. According to USDA, corn acres ion 2016 are expected to be 90.5 million acres versus 88.4 in 2015, while soybean acres are expected to be 82.0 versus 83.2 in 2015. Wheat acres are pegged at 53.0 in 2016 versus 54.6 in 2015.
Australian wheat is making a comeback in Asia, with buyers in the region locking in supplies for early 2016, as prices have dropped below that of cargoes from the United States and Canada. Asian buyers, including Indonesia - the region's biggest importer of the grain, have signed deals to take Australian wheat right up to February and are now in the market negotiating deals for March delivery, traders said on Monday.
Volatility swept through world markets on Monday as a renewed slide in oil and weakness in credit markets hit stocks, weighed on bond yields and added to the nervousness already building ahead of an expected U.S. interest rate hike later this week. Crude oil fell to their lowest point since December 2008 and another 40 cents lower would take oil prices down to levels not seen since 2004.
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