In the overnight session the grains traded mixed with December corn down ¾ of a cents, January soybeans down 1 ¾ cents and December Chicago wheat up 2 ¾ cents. First notice day for December corn and wheat contracts is Thursday the 30th. Most basis contracts that you may have with a grain buyer will need to be priced by noon today and any long futures contracts will need to be rolled by the end of today’s trading session.
Exporters sell 263,000 metric tons of soybeans for delivery to China during the 2017/2018 marketing year. Exporters sell 101,600 metric tons of corn for delivery to unknown destinations during the 2017/2018 marketing year. -USDA
March wheat traded at a low yesterday of $4.24 ¼ cents before turning around and closing near the high side of its trading range. The next overhead resistance appears to be around $4.33 ¾ which was supported in late October but was broken last Friday.
In the past month China has purchased 10 to 12 cargoes of corn. The corn was sourced primarily from the U.S and it would appear that more purchases may be yet to come. Corn prices in China have been relatively high recently after the government encouraged farmers to plant less of the crop this year to help deplete the country's sizeable reserves. In the latest report from the Agricultural Ministry, China is expected to produce 210.1 million metric tons of corn this year which was lower than previous forecasts. With the country's demand for corn revised higher to 215.62 million metric tons there is a need to import corn to meet demand. China corn demand was revised higher after the government announced plans to roll out ethanol blending into fuel across the country's gasoline supply.
Yesterday, the USDA released their latest estimates on the planting acreage for the 2018/19 crop year. They pegged soybean acreage at 91 million acres, up from 90.2 in 2017. The USDA also estimated an increase in corn acreage by 600,000 acres to 91 million acres. These forecasts and are not survey based.
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