In the overnight session corn and wheat remain mostly unchanged but January soybeans is trading 5 ¾ cents lower as Argentina forecasts expect precipitation over the weekend that is likely to provide relief to much of the drought stricken areas of the country.
The Argentina state weather service forecast indicates showers throughout Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, San Luis, Cordoba and Entre Rios. The widespread rain over Saturday and Sunday is expected to greatly benefit much of the dry regions and provide necessary moisture to continue the planting process. Last week Farmers in the Pamas region had planted about 40 percent of their soybean acres.
Ethanol production slipped this week to 1.089 million barrels per day from 1.108 million barrels per day last week. Despite the slight decline it is the second highest production on record and is roughly 4.7 percent above last year’s production during the same time period. To date, ethanol production is running ahead of last years pace by 4.1 percent. Ethanol stocks also slid last week to 940 million gallons from 947 million gallons. Despite the slight week over week decline in ethanol stocks the current levels are still up 17 percent year over year.
The Federal Reserve increased interest rates by ¼ of a percentage point on Wednesday and kept the rate outlook unchanged.
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