Grains continued to be tied limited overnight, while outside markets were under pressure yet again.
After the close yesterday, USDA’s monthly industrial use reports showed soybeans crushed in December were 167.0 MB versus trade expectations of 167.3 MB. For ethanol, 444.5 MB of corn was used for ethanol in December, up from November’s total of 435 but off from last year’s December use of 455.9.
In other news, wheat conditions in key growing states are trending fairly well as compared to last year. States in the Plains to Western Cornbelt are posting better than last year condition ratings with the exception of Nebraska. In Oklahoma, the wheat crop is rated 74% good-to-excellent, which although lower than last month’s reading of 77%, is still highly improved over last year’s condition of only 41%.
In other wheat news, Egypt announced a tender to buy more milling wheat yesterday, but overnight they canceled the tender citing a lack of offers in light of their import quality rules. Overnight, Taiwan's maize industry procurement association MFIG purchased 65,000 MT of corn to be sourced from the Unites States in an international tender which closed on Tuesday.
Argentina weather is expected to be mostly favorable during the next two weeks with adequate rains easing dryness. The greatest relief is expected Sunday into Monday of next week when rain will be most widespread in the driest areas. Some showers are expected Thursday into Saturday, but they are not likely to be well enough distributed to provide relief for all of the dry region.
U.S. crude futures were off sharply on Monday, losing $2 a barrel as weak economic data from China reversed a four-day rally from last week and an OPEC source undermined chances of an emergency meeting to stem the decline. Those same forces continued to push crude lower in the overnight and are weighing on S&P futures.
The risk of trading futures, hedging, and speculating can be substantial. Grain Hedge is a dba of Foremost Trading LLC (NFA ID: 0307930)
