Corn futures are 2 cents higher, with nearbys still trading below the 200-day moving average after closing below that level of support turned resistance on Wednesday for the first time since September 2020. Soybean futures are 4 cents higher amid corrective buying after an uptick in selling the past two days. The market has sustained technical damage in recent weeks. Winter and spring wheat futures are around a nickel higher. Crude oil futures are again on the rise, and the U.S. dollar index is under pressure.
An attaché in Argentina lowered its projection for 2021-22 soybean plantings by 500,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) to 17.0 million hectares (42.0 million acres), resulting in a 49.7 MMT crop estimate, which is 1.3 MMT under USDA’s official estimate. The attaché continues to estimate the 2020-21 soybean crop at 44.5 MMT, which is 1.7 MMT under USDA’s latest forecast.
Australian producers are expected to bring in a record canola crop topping 5 MMT, according to government data, and canola prices are near record levels. That comes as a relief to farmers who faced a near ban on barley exports to their biggest customer, China.
Recent U.S. inflation data did little to help those arguing the spike in prices will be brief, while there is growing evidence that the energy shortage is feeding into a wider range of factory inputs. U.S. inflation data came in higher than expected as consumer prices rose 0.4% in September and 5.4% on an annual basis. That’s the fifth straight month that the consumer price index recorded an annual gain of at least 5%.
China’s producer price index surged 10.7% year-over-year in September. That was the fastest pace in almost 26 years, led by coal prices and other commodity costs.
The United Auto Workers has called a strike against Deere & Co. The decision impacts more than 10,000 workers at 14 facilities across the U.S. and comes as the United Auto Workers union and Deere attempt to reach a new contract agreement. The strike started overnight at midnight.
President Joe Biden sought to address some logistical issues, announcing Wednesday that the Port of Los Angeles would begin operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Administration officials promised a “90-day sprint” to clear a path for cargo.
The Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine advisory panel meets today to consider whether to authorize booster shots of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine and meets Friday about Johnson & Johnson boosters. It will also hear data about mixing and matching boosters with doses of a different company’s vaccine.
EPA pledged to hold a series of regional roundtables this fall and winter as part of their plan to put a new definition of waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) in place.
Choice and Select boxed beef values continued to slide yesterday. Cash cattle trade picked up at $124 across the Midwest and Plains at midweek, steady with the upper end of last week’s trade.
The pork cutout value climbed $2.47 at midweek and movement held strong. Cash hog bids resumed their decline yesterday, dropping 93 cents nationally.