TOP STORIES:
Wheat Finishes Up in Volatile Session on the CBOT
Wheat for March delivery rose 0.2% to $6.42 a bushel, on the Chicago Board of Trade Tuesday, finishing slightly higher after a volatile session that saw grain futures open strong and then sell-off before rebounding.
After trading higher pre-market and then falling throughout the session, CBOT grain futures finished mixed. AgResource called the decline technical in nature and said selling that pared pre-market gains was a reaction to the perceived overbought nature of grains futures. "We doubt that the decline in corn/wheat/soyoil will be able to garner any downside momentum," said AgResource.
Soybean Export Inspections Down as China Absent -- Market Talk
11:32 ET - Soybean export inspections haven fallen off from last week -- due largely to China being absent from export purchasing. According to the USDA's weekly data, soybean export inspections totaled 1.31 million metric tons, down from 2.2 million tons. China is entirely absent as a destination for US soybeans, according to the USDA. Mexico was the top destination for the week, totaling 98,451 tons -- followed by Spain and Egypt, at 72,544 tons and 57,158 tons respectively. Meanwhile, corn inspections totaled 912,802 tons and wheat inspections totaled 324.983 tons. After moving higher in pre-market trading, grain futures have tipped lower -- with corn down 0.6% and wheat down 0.7%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)
STORIES OF INTEREST:
CN Reports Record Grains Shipments -- Market Talk
14:14 ET - Canadian National Railway says it has set shipment records for Canadian grains for 10 consecutive months, with this most recent month resulting in 2.84M metric tons of grains shipped. According to CN, this brings the volume of grain moved in the 2020/21 crop year via carload to 14.5M tons, which is 15% higher than the previous record pace. According to CN, the company's new shipments records are due in part to "significant investments made in recent years in track, locomotives, and railcars, including the purchase of 1,500 new high capacity grain hopper cars." (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)
Grains Elevated as Argentina Stops Corn Exports -- Market Talk
09:07 ET - Grain futures on the CBOT are up in pre-market trading Monday as a number of factors impact commodities across the board. However, one factor specifically pushing grains higher is last week's announcement from Argentina's government that corn exports will be halted until Feb. 28 in order to ensure the country's food security. This is why corn futures are inching toward the $5 per bushel mark, with the most-active futures contract up 1.5% to over $4.91 per bushel pre-market. "Much of the strength was related to ongoing South America weather concerns and Argentina shutting down corn registrations," says Terry Reilly of Futures International. Meanwhile, soybeans are up 2.3% and wheat is up 0.6%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)
THE MARKETS:
Hog Futures Look to Rise Over Longer-Term -- Market Talk
15:24 ET - Lean hog futures trading on the CME finished up 1.4% to 71.225 cents per pound. For hogs, today's uptick puts prices at their highest levels since October -- but there's room for them to travel higher if high demand persists as the pork supply chain moves less meat than previous years. "[Our] projections assume that the strong demand observed even in the face of the COVID-19 is maintained," says Jason Franken of Western Illinois University. Franken forecasts prices to average 72-78 cents per pound by the middle of 2021. "However, if that is not the case or if hog supply turns out to be greater than anticipated, then lower prices may be realized," he adds. Live cattle futures finished down 2.4% to $1.123 per pound Monday. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-04-21 1705ET
