Corn ends the day down 6¢ | Thursday, July 18, 2024

December corn ended the day down 6¾¢.

November soybeans closed up 2¢.

September wheat contracts closed mixed. CBOT wheat is down 4¢. KC wheat is up 1¾¢. Minneapolis wheat is up 8¾¢.

“Disappointing export sales and continued favorable weather for the Corn Belt in the near term pressured corn futures back near their recent lows on Thursday,” says the Grain Market Insider newsletter by Stewart-Peterson Inc.

This morning USDA released the weekly Export Sales report for July 5 to July 11. Grain Market Insider says, “Last week, U.S. exporters reported new sales of 438,000 metric tons (17.2 million bushels) for old crop and 486,000 metric tons (19.1 million bushels) for new. Old crop sales were below expectations, while export sale for new crop slightly exceeded expectations. The soft old crop sales pressured the front end of the corn market on Thursday.”

Concerning the soybean market today, Grain Market Insider says “A flash sale this morning of just under 19 million bushels of soybeans to unknown destinations as well as strong weekly export sales helped soybean futures close higher across the board today.”

August live cattle, feeder cattle, and lean hogs all settled in the red today, down $2.03, $2.33, and 28¢ respectively.

August crude oil is currently down 46¢.

September S&P 500 futures are currently down 41 points. September Dow futures are down 523 points.

Published: 3:34 p.m. CT

Corn down 5¢ this morning: 9:36 a.m. CT

December corn is down 5¾¢ this morning.

November soybeans are down 3¾¢.

September wheat contract are mixed. CBOT wheat is down 2¢. KC wheat is up 2¢. Minneapolis wheat is up 10¢.

This morning USDA announced unknown destination are buying:

• 510,000 metric tons of soybeans for the 2024/2025 marketing year
• 150,000 metric tons of soybean cake and meal for the 2024/2025 marketing year.
  

“The market will assume the soybeans are headed to China,” says The Brock Report. “This would appear to confirm market talk of recent strong interest from Chinese buyers in U.S. soybeans for November delivery and likely marks the first significant Chinese purchases of U.S. beans for next marketing year.”

USDA also released the weekly Export Sales report this morning.

 “Net U.S. corn export sales for the week ended July 11 came in at 36.3 million bushels (mb), in line with trade expectations for 19.5 mb to 47.0 mb and up from the previous week’s 25.8 million,” says The Brock Report. “However, only 17.2 mb in sales were for 2023/2024 delivery. Weekly corn export shipments rose to 43.5 mb from the previous week’s 34.6 million.

“Net weekly U.S. soybean export sales totaled 27.0 mb, toward the high end of trade expectations that ran 11.0 mb to 33.0 mb and up from the previous week’s 14.6 million. However, only 13.2 mb in sales were for 2023/2024 delivery. Soybean export sales of nearly 1.667 billion bushels for 2023/2024 to date were 13.7% below a year earlier. Weekly soybean export shipments totaled just 7.4 mb, well below the level needed for old-crop exports to reach USDA’s current forecast.

“...Net weekly U.S. wheat export sales totaled 21.3 mb, near the high end of trade expectations that ran 8.5 mb to 22.0 mb and up from the previous week’s 8.8 million. U.S. wheat export sales for the marketing year to date totaled 262 mb, up 42.2% from a year earlier.”

August live cattle are down 40¢ this morning. August feeder cattle are down 65¢. August lean hogs are down 28¢.

August crude oil is down 40¢.

The U.S. Dollar Index September contract is up to 103.71.

September S&P 500 futures are up 22 points. September Dow futures are up 147 points.

Published: 9:36 a.m. CT