Soybeans rallied overnight, with most contracts currently up 9 to 11 cents. Corn futures also favored the upside and most contracts currently up 2 cents. Winter and spring wheat futures are up 2 to 4 cents, with the HRW market leading gains. The U.S. dollar index is marginally lower and crude oil futures are heading toward a test of Wednesday’s multi-year high.
The northern Chinese provinces have been hit with heavy late-season rains, submerging fields and delaying harvest. While a bumper crop is still expected, the rain has raised concerns about the quality of the crop, especially given the country’s power shortages that will limit producers’ ability to dry crops.
China is currently building several huge gas-fired power plants and still plans to build 247 gigawatts of new coal power according to the U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry. Meanwhile, to encourage the use of renewable energy, the Chinese government has ordered electric utilities to charge customers up to five times as much when power is scarce and generated mainly by coal.
The Senate passed a short-term extension of the debt limit on Thursday by a 50-48 party line vote. The bill raises the borrowing limit by $480 billion, the amount the Treasury Department says is needed to meet the country’s cash needs until Dec. 3.
Buyers in Europe, Asia and Latin America are competing for limited natural gas supplies, racing to fill tanks and caverns with the fuel before cold weather hits the Northern Hemisphere, the WSJ reports. Natural gas stocks are very low around the world, and prices in most places have never been higher after surging to new records in Europe and Asia this week.
The Wall Street Journal reports U.S. troops have been secretly training military forces in Taiwan. The deployment is a sign of concern within the Pentagon about Taiwan’s tactical capabilities considering Beijing’s years-long military buildup and recent threatening moves against the island.
The CIA plans to create a new China Mission Center. The agency is meant to better position U.S. intelligence to study China and analyze its activities.
Texas dryland cropland and ranchland continued to post double-digit annual gains through the third quarter of 2021, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. The bank pegs the value of Texas dryland cropland at $2,328 an acre and the value of ranchland at $2,866 an acre for increases of 11.6% and 17.4%, respectively.
USDA is working on a proposal for a waiver system for hog plants that had been forced to slow line speeds by a federal court decision, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack said during a congressional hearing yesterday. The 2019 Trump administration rule allowed pork plants to run slaughter lines without speed limits so long as they prevented fecal contamination and bacteria was limited.
Nearby feeder cattle futures registered strong gains Thursday, with the front two contracts ending with gains around $3.50. Live cattle also finished with solid daily gains. Cash cattle action so far this week has been steady with trade the week prior.
Lean hog futures edged out modest gains on Thursday, with traders encouraged that the December contract found support at the 100-day moving average after dipping below that level yesterday. Cash hog bids climbed 17 cents yesterday, a break from the recent steady march to the downside.