Corn Futures Drop as Brazilian Weather Improves -- Daily Grain Highlights
06 January 2024 - 8:49AM
Dow Jones News
By Kirk Maltais
--Corn for March delivery fell 1% to $4.61 3/4 a bushel on the
Chicago Board of Trade on Friday, with more beneficial rainfall
arriving in Brazilian growing areas.
--Soybeans for March delivery fell 0.8% to $12.57 a bushel.
--Wheat for March delivery rose 0.6% to $6.17 a bushel.
HIGHLIGHTS
Course Correction: Weather in Brazil has improved for crops,
particularly those in the northern portion of the country.
"Widespread heavy rain has fallen in central Brazil the last
several days and continues through most of next week as well,
especially from Mato Grosso to Minas Gerais," DTN said in a note.
It's a turnaround from last month, when inadequate rainfall
threatened the crops. Better weather could lead to larger grain
supplies from Brazil, pressuring global export prices and forcing
U.S. sellers to cut their own prices.
In the Hunt: Export sales reported by the USDA were generally
weak for corn and soybeans but showed promise for wheat, with China
reported as buying 65,800 metric tons of the grain for delivery in
the 2023/24 marketing year. This development, along with
projections of weaker winter wheat crop conditions in the U.S. and
continued short-covering, spurred wheat futures, AgResource said in
a note.
INSIGHT
Treading Water: Trader attention has shifted much of their focus
on what next week's WASDE and quarterly stocks reports from the
USDA will say. "They will set the tone for price movement through
the winter," said Tomm Pfitzenmaier of Summit Commodity Brokerage
in a note. Fund traders, who the CFTC reported held mostly short
positions in late 2023, could add long positions if the WASDE
indicates El Nino is likely to adversely affect U.S. crops.
Global Decline: Food prices fell in December, as lower prices
for sugar, vegetable oils and meat offset increases in dairy
products and cereals, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations said Friday. Higher cereal prices indicate a
tightening supply and demand picture for grains globally.
AHEAD
--The USDA will release its weekly grains export inspections
report at 11 a.m. ET Monday.
--The EIA will release its weekly ethanol production and stocks
report at 10:30 a.m. ET Wednesday.
--The USDA will release its weekly export sales report at 8:30
a.m. ET Thursday.
Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 05, 2024 16:34 ET (21:34 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.