Soybean Futures Fall as Rainfall Arrives in Parched Areas -- Daily Grain Highlights
22 December 2023 - 7:44AM
Dow Jones News
By Kirk Maltais
--Soybeans for March delivery fell 1.2%, to $13.01 a bushel, on
the Chicago Board of Trade on Thursday, with new rainfall arriving
in dry Brazilian growing areas expected to ease stress on those
crops.
--Wheat for March delivery rose 0.5%, to $6.13 a bushel.
--Corn for March delivery rose 0.6%, to $4.72 3/4 a bushel.
HIGHLIGHTS
Wash Out: Brazilian crop-growing areas are expected to receive
some much-needed rain, which became the main pressure point of
Thursday's session. "Welcomed showers impact the driest areas of
northern Brazil through the weekend," said AgResource in a note.
"This will be followed by the return of abnormal warmth and
below-normal precipitation in the 6-10 day period."
Thin Trade: A low-volume day ahead of the Christmas holiday
helped exacerbate technical trends. CBOT corn closed at $4.72 a
bushel, near the lowest levels of the year and the lowest levels
since late 2020. Fund traders are adding short positions in corn
ahead of the end of the year, said AgriTel in a note, this even as
they still hold a sizable net short position in corn, creating the
potential for a sharp short-covering-driven rebound.
INSIGHT
New Year, Same Problems: After gradually declining throughout
the harvest months, CBOT wheat saw a revival in December--one
that's expected to persist into the new year, according to
Commerzbank in a note. The firm said that because of issues faced
by crops in countries like Argentina and Australia, world supply is
expected to be thinner, and issues with China's own wheat crops
makes the biggest grain exporter in the world even hungrier for
wheat. "All in all, we see wheat prices well supported in the
coming months," says the firm, adding that the expected support
level is around $6.20 a bushel.
Surge in Sales: Export sales for U.S. soybeans nearly doubled
from the previous week, according to USDA data, giving hope that
U.S. products can compete for export business on the world stage.
In its latest weekly export sales report, the USDA said that U.S.
soybean export sales for the week ended Dec. 14 totaled 1.99
million metric tons for delivery in the 2023/24 marketing year.
That is up 84% from last week's report, according to the agency.
Unknown destinations were the leading buyers of soybeans for the
week, followed by China, Spain, Indonesia, and the Netherlands.
AHEAD
--The USDA will release its monthly Cattle on Feed report at 3
p.m. ET Friday.
--The USDA will release its monthly Cold Storage report at 3
p.m. ET Friday.
--The USDA will release its quarterly Hogs and Pigs report at 3
p.m. ET Friday.
--The CFTC will release its weekly Commitment of Traders report
at 3:30 p.m. ET Friday.
Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 21, 2023 15:29 ET (20:29 GMT)
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