Market News

Soybeans, corn, wheat drift downward

Soybeans were lower on fund and technical selling. Near-term planting and development weather in South America continues to look generally favorable. The fundamental implications of big South American crops also pressured soybean meal and oil. China and unknown destinations bought U.S. beans ahead of the open, 198,000 and 135,000 tons, respectively, and the Philippines picked up 133,000 tons of U.S. bean meal, all for 2024/25 delivery. Soybean exports last week were above the previous week, below average, primarily to China, followed distantly by Mexico, with a net reduction for unknown destinations.  ANEC says Brazil’s soybean exports for October were 8.09 million tons, up 57% on the year and the second highest for the month on record.

Corn was modestly lower on fund and technical selling. Corn is monitoring the mostly favorable crop weather conditions in Argentina and Brazil. The USDA’s next round of supply, demand, and production numbers is out December 10^th, with CONAB’s updated outlook for Brazil set for December 12^th. The cash basis post-harvest continues to move higher and while export demand for U.S. corn is good, Argentina is starting to become more competitive. Still, overall demand continues to be solid, with export sales up on the week, down from the average, with about half of that to Mexico, followed by unknown destinations. The trade will be watching the export inspections numbers closely to see where the recent sales to unknown are headed.

The wheat complex was modestly lower on profit taking and technical selling, along with the higher trade in the dollar during the session. Wheat is watching U.S. winter wheat conditions before the crop moves into dormancy, which is approaching rapidly in some areas. The trade’s also watching planting and development weather in Europe and the Black Sea region, along with harvest activity in Argentina and Australia. The war between Russia and Ukraine continues to be a background influence for its potential impact on the global wheat market. U.S. wheat export sales were larger than the week before and topped the four-week average, mainly to South Korea and Mexico.