Corn and wheat futures halted their corrective pullbacks from the two previous days overnight, but soybeans extended Wednesday’s declines. As of 6:30 a.m. CT, corn futures are trading around a penny higher, soybeans are mostly 3 to 4 cents lower and wheat futures are mostly 3 to 4 cents higher. Front-month crude oil futures are around $1.30 higher, while the U.S. dollar index is around 350 points higher this morning.
Global food prices jumped to their highest level since July 2011, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) food price index. The index rose 3.0% in October from the previous month and was 31.3% higher than last year.
FAO cut its 2021-22 global cereal grain production forecast by 6.7 MMT to 2.793 billion MT, though that would still be up 21.5 MMT from last year and a new record.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) announced Wednesday night that both infrastructure bills could see a floor vote as soon as today, but more likely on Friday. The House yesterday released updated Build Back Better (BBB) language and those late additions will likely complicate its chances in the Senate.
New Jersey Democratic Governor Phil Murphy was re-elected, defeating Republican Jack Ciattarelli by a razor-thin margin. No New Jersey Democrat had won re-election to the governorship in 44 years.
Many trucking fleets say they can’t hire enough drivers to meet booming consumer demand as the U.S. economy emerges from the pandemic. The freight backup has intensified longstanding strains in the industry over hours, pay, working conditions and retention.
At least 20 countries have agreed to end financing for fossil fuel projects in a deal that’s expected to be announced today as part of the COP26 summit in Glasgow. Several countries made a similar deal this week to end international financing for coal.
OPEC producers will decide whether to increase production as the world faces a growing supply crunch, fueled by an economic rebound in the developed world. Oil prices have risen to seven-year highs in recent weeks as demand has steadily rebounded following a steep fall at the outset of the Covid pandemic.
China’s state-owned Sinopec signed a contract with U.S. Venture Global LNG to buy 4 MMT of liquefied natural gas (LNG) annually for 20 years. The deal is the largest LNG long-term contract signed between Chinese and U.S. companies and will double China’s imports from the United States.
China’s sow herd is larger than normal, according to the deputy director of the country’s ag ministry Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Bureau, resulting in an oversupply of pork. As a result, Beijing is calling for farmers to cull inefficient sows.
There weren’t a lot of takers on the $2 to $3 higher cash cattle bids earlier this week, according to cash sources, who signaled asking prices on this week’s remaining feedlot supplies are another $2 higher.
The pork cutout value firmed for a second straight day on Wednesday, rising $6.23, mostly on a $23.61 surge in hams. That pushed the overall cutout value to $100.44, the first time into triple digits since Oct. 18.