Corn futures are mostly 4 to 6 cents lower at midmorning.
· Corn futures are weaker amid general selling across the grain and soy complexes.
· USDA reported daily corn sales of 136,000 MT to Mexico for 2024-25, the eighth straight daily sales announcement.
· China’s grain output is set to exceed a record 700 MMT this year, a top agriculture ministry official said, up approximately 0.7% from last year. However, China remains highly reliant on soybean imports, while corn plantings continue to fall short of needed levels. “National food supply and demand is in a tight balance, with no substantial change, and so efforts to ensure a stable and safe supply of grains cannot be relaxed,” the official said.
· December corn futures stopped shy of the 100-day moving average at $4.22 1/4 Thursday, which stands as initial resistance, with additional resistance at $4.25. Support comes is at the 10-day moving average at $4.14 1/2 and then $4.10.
Soybeans are mostly 8 to 11 cents lower, while soymeal futures are around $3.00 to 5.00 lower. Soyoil is around 20 to 30 points lower.
· Soybeans are extending Thursday’s late weakness, with continued pressure stemming from soymeal.
· USDA reported daily soybean sales of 116,000 MT to China for 2024-25, marking sales in eight of the past 10 days.
· Brazil is expecting a good mix of rain and sunshine for most of the nation’s key agricultural areas for the next 10 days, although the far south is expected to dry down for a while; some timely rain is expected in southern Brazil during the first week of November.
· November soybean futures are facing initial resistance at $9.94 3/4 before the psychological $10.00 level. Support is at the psychological $9.75 mark.
Winter wheat futures are 13 to 15 cents lower, while HRS futures are 6 to 9 cents lower.
· Wheat futures continue to face notable technical selling.
· Russia’s tax on wheat exports jumped to 2,272.9 rubles ($23.53) per metric ton for the week of Oct. 30-Nov. 5 up from 2,121.2 rubles ($21.96) the previous week. The export tax has surged 71.1% the last three weeks and is 151% above the mid-September level.
· World Weather Inc. reports dryness remains in a concern for U.S. HRW wheat production areas, the Pacific Northwest in unirrigated areas, as well as Western Australia and crop areas from eastern Ukraine into western Kazakhstan. Rain is also needed in some U.S. Midwest SRW wheat production areas where the ground has firmed.
· December SRW futures failed to overcome downtrend resistance at $5.81 and turned sharply lower. Support is at the Oct. 22 low of $5.65 3/4.
Live cattle are modestly lower while feeders are facing heavier selling at midmorning.
· Live cattle futures are posting modest corrective losses after recent strength.
· Cash cattle trade actively traded at mostly $2.00 higher prices on Thursday, extending the string of weekly gains in the cash market to seven.
· Wholesale beef values dipped on Thursday, with Choice falling 24 cents to $321.17, while Select dropped $1.43 to $294.34. Movement was strong, however, at 189 loads.
· Analysts expect USDA’s Cattle on Feed Report this afternoon to show the large feedlot (1,000-plus head) inventory down 0.3% from year-ago at 11.545 million head as of Oct. 1, which would be the first year-over-year decline since June. The report is expected to show a 4.0% decline in the number of cattle moved into feedlots last month, while marketings are anticipated to be up 2.0% from September 2023.
· USDA will detail frozen meat stocks at the end of September in the Cold Storage Report this afternoon. The five-year average is a 15.1-million-lb. increase in beef stocks.
· December live cattle face resistance at $189.85, while support lies at $188.725.
Hog futures are modestly lower at midsession.
· December hog futures are under profit-taking pressure after notching a string of solid gains.
· The CME lean hog index is up 54 cents to $85.20 as of Oct. 23, marking five straight days of gains.
· The pork cutout value fell 7 cents on Thursday to $98.15, while movement totaled 337.2 loads for the day.
· USDA will detail frozen meat stocks at the end of September in the Cold Storage Report. The five-year average is a nearly 1-million-lb. decline in pork stocks during the month.
· December lean hogs are finding support at the 10-day moving average of $77.88, while initial resistance is at $79.13