Wheat Climbs as World Supplies Look to Fall -- Daily Grain Highlights
03 August 2021 - 5:17AM
Dow Jones News
By Kirk Maltais
--Wheat for September delivery rose 3.7% to $7.29 1/2 a bushel,
on the Chicago Board of Trade Monday, in response to hot and dry
weather impacting supplies around the world.
--Corn for December delivery rose 2.6% to $5.59 1/4 a
bushel.
--Soybeans for November delivery rose 0.3% to $13.53 1/2 a
bushel.
HIGHLIGHTS
Stress Support: The Russian wheat crop continues to suffer from
weather issues, with private ag analytical firm IKAR dropping their
estimate of the 2021 Russian wheat crop to 78.5 million metric
tons, a 6.5 million ton decline from the USDA's WASDE July
forecast. "Russian wheat yield data remains hugely disappointing
with further cuts in the crop expected," said AgResource. "The
disappointing 2021 Russian wheat crop yield and dire Canadian
drought offers further upside to world wheat values on tightening
exportable supplies."
In Anticipation: The expectation that today's crop progress
report from the USDA will show another drop in crops in
good-or-excellent condition caused traders to swoop in and buy
today, said Arlan Suderman of StoneX. "Fundamentally, we can say it
was in anticipation of this afternoon's crop ratings," said Mr.
Suderman. "Much of the action that we're seeing is technical while
traders wait for greater data on the impact of this year's weather
on the total crop."
Pressure Point: Rainfall that was more than expected in U.S.
growing areas over the weekend was a source of pressure for grain
futures in pre-market trading Monday - although that pressure was
soon sapped by midday. "Rainfall over the weekend...was a bit
better than what was forecasted on Friday," said Tomm Pfitzenmaier
of Summit Commodity Brokerage. "The fact that most of the technical
indicators turned lower Friday is not helping either this
morning."
INSIGHTS
Corn Inspections Surge: Export inspections for U.S. corn
destined for China jumped in this week's report from the USDA. In
its latest grain export inspections report, the USDA said that corn
inspections totaled 1.38 million metric tons for the week ended
July 29. Of that, 839,556 tons of corn were inspected for shipment
to China, roughly double from last week. After trading slightly
lower pre-market Monday, corn futures trading on the CBOT turned
higher, supported in part by the show of Chinese interest in U.S.
corn.
Stepping Out: On Friday, the CFTC reported that institutional
investors were actively closing their short positions in wheat
futures - reflecting expectations that hot and dry weather globally
will pressure supplies of wheat worldwide. "Last week most of the
buying interest was concentrated in wheat after speculators once
again flipped their CBOT wheat position back to a net long," said
Ole Hansen of Saxo Bank.
AHEAD
--Ingredion Inc. will release its second-quarter earnings report
before the stock market opens on Tuesday.
--The Andersons Inc. will release its second-quarter earnings
report after the stock market closes on Tuesday.
--The EIA will release its weekly ethanol production and stocks
report at 10:30 a.m. ET Wednesday.
Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 02, 2021 15:15 ET (19:15 GMT)
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