Market Commentary: Calm Before the Reports
All the major contracts opened in the green but by the close only soymeal, HRW, and the livestock complex remained that way. Profit-taking was one aspect but most noticeable was lower volume for most of the markets, and a narrow trading range for many. It appeared that everything was positioned...
Summary of Futures
May 23 Corn closed at $6.495/bushel, down $0.01 from yesterday's close. May 23 Wheat closed at $6.9225/bushel, down $0.125 from yesterday's close. May 23 Soybeans closed at $14.745/bushel, down $0.0275 from yesterday's close. May 23 Soymeal closed at $459.9/short ton, up $1.7...
AI and Agriculture; Worker Centric Trade Policy is Dead
AI and Agriculture AI is the rage with some warning it will lead to human extinction, and others comparing its transformative impacts to the internet and smart phones. Those technologies have had their share of ethical concerns but the genie is now out of the bottle and short of government regu...
Hogs and Pigs Report: Status Quo Numbers
USDA released its first quarterly Hogs and Pigs report for the year today. At 72.86 million head, the total inventory as of 1 March was slightly above last year’s 72.69 million head. The report was generally in line with pre-report expectations, except there were a few more market...
FOB Prices and Freight Rate App (Updated 30 Mar.)
Ocean Freight Comments - 30 March 2023 By Jay O'Neil Commodity Consulting Dry-bulk ocean freight markets were fairly quiet and dull this week and moved mostly sideways. Vessel owners continue to look for improved cargo demand, and finding none, must settle for holding rates steady and not losin...
Export Sales
Export Sales and Shipments for the period March 17-23, 2023 Wheat: Net sales of 151,700 metric tons (MT) for 2022/2023 were up 21 percent from the previous week, but down 40 percent from the prior 4-week average. Export shipments of 377,500 MT were up 4 percent from the previ...
Interactive Ocean Freight Rates (Updated 30 Mar.)
Ocean Freight Comments - 30 March 2023 By Jay O'Neil Commodity Consulting Dry-bulk ocean freight markets were fairly quiet and dull this week and moved mostly sideways. Vessel owners continue to look for improved cargo demand, and finding none, must settle for holding rates steady and not losin...
Market Commentary: Corn, Soybeans Spreads Bullish before Reports; Wheat Pares Early Gains
The ag trading world is abuzz with discussion of the coming Grain Stocks and Prospective Plantings reports that USDA will release on Friday. The stocks report is usually relatively (we use that word loosely) easy to predict but the planting numbers notoriously escape the range of pre-report est...
Friend-shoring Challenge
Friend-shoring or moving supply chains closer to being between like-minded nations doesn’t seem like an agriculture issue but it could become one. That is because the sector is increasingly being treated like a strategic asset, and it faces differentiated production standards as regulatio...
Summary of Futures
May 23 Corn closed at $6.505/bushel, up $0.0325 from yesterday's close. May 23 Wheat closed at $7.0475/bushel, up $0.05 from yesterday's close. May 23 Soybeans closed at $14.7725/bushel, up $0.095 from yesterday's close. May 23 Soymeal closed at $458.2/short ton, up $0.3 from...
Market Commentary: Soymeal, KCBT Wheat Lead Tuesday Rallies; Acreage and Stocks Reports Loom
The CBOT was mostly higher on Tuesday with traders increasingly preparing and positioning for the coming acreage and Grain Stocks reports. The soy complex was the upside leader for the day with turnaround in soymeal and soybeans gaining steam and attracting more technical buying interest. There...
Unhelpful Timing; Tai Strengths and Weaknesses; IPEF’s Weakness
Unhelpful Timing The U.S. agriculture sector unleashed a pro-trade barrage on the Biden Administration this week and USDA bureaucrats wittingly or unwittingly contributed to the onslaught. U.S. agriculture is highly dependent on trade. It was first battered by Donald Trump’s trade war and...
Market Commentary: Calm Before the Reports
All the major contracts opened in the green but by the close only soymeal, HRW, and the livestock complex remained that way. Profit-taking was one aspect but most noticeable was lower volume for most of the markets, and a narrow trading range for many. It appeared that everything was positioned...
Summary of Futures
May 23 Corn closed at $6.495/bushel, down $0.01 from yesterday's close. May 23 Wheat closed at $6.9225/bushel, down $0.125 from yesterday's close. May 23 Soybeans closed at $14.745/bushel, down $0.0275 from yesterday's close. May 23 Soymeal closed at $459.9/short ton, up $1.7...
AI and Agriculture; Worker Centric Trade Policy is Dead
AI and Agriculture AI is the rage with some warning it will lead to human extinction, and others comparing its transformative impacts to the internet and smart phones. Those technologies have had their share of ethical concerns but the genie is now out of the bottle and short of government regu...
Hogs and Pigs Report: Status Quo Numbers
USDA released its first quarterly Hogs and Pigs report for the year today. At 72.86 million head, the total inventory as of 1 March was slightly above last year’s 72.69 million head. The report was generally in line with pre-report expectations, except there were a few more market...
FOB Prices and Freight Rate App (Updated 30 Mar.)
Ocean Freight Comments - 30 March 2023 By Jay O'Neil Commodity Consulting Dry-bulk ocean freight markets were fairly quiet and dull this week and moved mostly sideways. Vessel owners continue to look for improved cargo demand, and finding none, must settle for holding rates steady and not losin...
Export Sales
Export Sales and Shipments for the period March 17-23, 2023 Wheat: Net sales of 151,700 metric tons (MT) for 2022/2023 were up 21 percent from the previous week, but down 40 percent from the prior 4-week average. Export shipments of 377,500 MT were up 4 percent from the previ...
Interactive Ocean Freight Rates (Updated 30 Mar.)
Ocean Freight Comments - 30 March 2023 By Jay O'Neil Commodity Consulting Dry-bulk ocean freight markets were fairly quiet and dull this week and moved mostly sideways. Vessel owners continue to look for improved cargo demand, and finding none, must settle for holding rates steady and not losin...
Market Commentary: Corn, Soybeans Spreads Bullish before Reports; Wheat Pares Early Gains
The ag trading world is abuzz with discussion of the coming Grain Stocks and Prospective Plantings reports that USDA will release on Friday. The stocks report is usually relatively (we use that word loosely) easy to predict but the planting numbers notoriously escape the range of pre-report est...
Friend-shoring Challenge
Friend-shoring or moving supply chains closer to being between like-minded nations doesn’t seem like an agriculture issue but it could become one. That is because the sector is increasingly being treated like a strategic asset, and it faces differentiated production standards as regulatio...
Summary of Futures
May 23 Corn closed at $6.505/bushel, up $0.0325 from yesterday's close. May 23 Wheat closed at $7.0475/bushel, up $0.05 from yesterday's close. May 23 Soybeans closed at $14.7725/bushel, up $0.095 from yesterday's close. May 23 Soymeal closed at $458.2/short ton, up $0.3 from...
Market Commentary: Soymeal, KCBT Wheat Lead Tuesday Rallies; Acreage and Stocks Reports Loom
The CBOT was mostly higher on Tuesday with traders increasingly preparing and positioning for the coming acreage and Grain Stocks reports. The soy complex was the upside leader for the day with turnaround in soymeal and soybeans gaining steam and attracting more technical buying interest. There...
Unhelpful Timing; Tai Strengths and Weaknesses; IPEF’s Weakness
Unhelpful Timing The U.S. agriculture sector unleashed a pro-trade barrage on the Biden Administration this week and USDA bureaucrats wittingly or unwittingly contributed to the onslaught. U.S. agriculture is highly dependent on trade. It was first battered by Donald Trump’s trade war and...