Market News

Soybeans see profit taking as corn, wheat close mixed

Soybeans were lower on profit taking and technical selling. Hot, dry weather in parts of the region could limit yield potential, with more private firms lowering their outlooks this week. That hotter, drier pattern is expected to remain widespread until early next week and could even persist into mid-month for some areas. China bought 202,000 tons of U.S. beans ahead of the open. That’s the fourth day in a row with an announced sale of U.S. soybeans for a running total of 905,000 tons, all for 2026/27 delivery to either China or unknown destinations, which could turn out to be China. The USDA is set to issue updated supply, demand, and production numbers September 11^th. ANEC estimates August soybean exports by Brazil at 9.53 million tons, compared to their last guess of 10.25 million tons. Soybean meal and oil futures were pressured by profit taking.

Corn was mixed on bear spreading. Corn is watching another round of private crop tours which are expected to show lower yields. It looks like it’s shaping up to be a highly regional year for corn production as losses in parts of the Western Corn Belt could cancel out any year-over-year gains in portions of the Eastern Corn Belt. The U.S. Energy Information Administration says ethanol production averaged 1.11 million barrels per day, down 2,000 on the week, but up 35,000 on the year, with stocks of 25.035 million barrels, 171,000 less than the week before, but 2.471 million more than a year ago, and exports averaging 104,000 barrels per day, 58,000 lower than the previous week, but 15,000 higher than last year. Corn is also monitoring the late second crop harvest activity and early first crop planting pace in Brazil, with CONAB’s next report out September 15^th. ANEC sees August corn exports by Brazil at 5.13 million tons, compared to the prior projection of 5.45 million tons.

The wheat complex was mixed, with Chicago and Kansas City down and Minneapolis up on technical activity. There’s no change to the very limited export movement by Russia and Ukraine. Moscow has confirmed Russia will suspend grain export taxes until the end of the year. Export demand for U.S. wheat continues to be slow because of relatively high prices. The USDA’s weekly U.S. sales numbers are out Thursday morning. Additionally, big crops in Argentina, Australia, and Canada are expected to fill at least some of the void left by the Black Sea issues and the crop loss in the European Union. Stateside, parts of the Northern U.S. Plains could see harvest delaying rain, but that’s expected to miss some of the drier central and southern areas ahead of hard red winter wheat planting.