In the overnight session the grains were mixed with soybeans trading higher. December corn was up ¼ of a cent, November Soybeans were up 4 ¾ cents and December Chicago wheat was down ¾ of a cent. Soybeans finished last week pulling all the way back to the uptrend support around $9.70 before closing Friday in the green. A strong close today would signal the possible resumption of the uptrend that started after Soybeans put in a low on August 16th.
Rains were scattered across all of the corn and soybean growing regions of Brazil and the southern half of Argentina this weekend. The Brazilian rains are beneficial for the crop and are helping to keep planting pace at average levels. On Thursday, Brazil announced that soybeans are 30 percent planted which on pace with the 5 year average, but slightly behind last year. The Argentina rains, which are delaying soybean planting are expected to return on Thursday followed by five days of clear weather.
The Commitments of Traders report showed that the speculators net short position for corn increased again this week by only 10,659 contracts to -213,806. Chicago Wheat also saw an increase in the speculators net short position by 1,645 to -101,110. This week soybean speculators reduced their net long positions by 28,390 to 2,065.
Reuters reported over the weekend that newly harvested soybean have had less protein than in years past which has forced processors like Bunge to cut the amount of nutrients they can guarantee in soymeal.
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