By Kirk Maltais
--Soybeans for January delivery rose 2.1% to $12.77 a bushel, on the Chicago Board of Trade Wednesday, in reaction to heightened interest in agricultural commodities by fund traders.
--Wheat for December delivery rose 1.5% to $8.22 1/4 a bushel.
--Corn for December delivery rose 0.7% to $5.75 1/4 a bushel.
HIGHLIGHTS
Money Flow: After trading lower yesterday due to a stronger U.S. dollar, CBOT grain futures turned higher in trading Wednesday. For grains, the driver for today's uptick comes from the interest in commodities from larger investors. "Managed money inflows on inflation positioning and reports of concerning weather forecasts for South America has the complex pushing to sharp daily gains," said AgResource. In its latest commitment of traders report Monday, the CFTC reported that through the week ended November 9, managed money funds had reduced their long positions in corn, soybeans, and wheat.
Bouncing Back: For agricultural commodities in general - particularly corn -- prices are still high but are supported, said Tomm Pfitzenmaier of Summit Commodity Brokerage. "The U.S. Gulf corn is still the cheapest feed grain into Asia for the Dec/Feb period and that along with the strength in the ethanol market should keep corn futures prices well supported on weakness," he said. For soybeans, strength in soymeal and soyoil look to support futures, Mr. Pfitzenmaier adds.
INSIGHTS
Export Appetite: Grain traders surveyed by The Wall Street Journal this week forecast an uptick in soy export sales - particularly for soybeans and soyoil. For soybeans, traders forecast new sales for the week ended November 11 to total anywhere from 1 million metric tons to 1.8 million tons - up from 1.32 million tons last week. Meanwhile, soyoil sales are forecast at 20,000 tons to 40,000 tons, up from 10,400 tons last week. The uptick in sales comes as soy futures on the CBOT turn higher, Soymeal in particular has been on the climb, rising 18% in the past month.
Turning to 2022: With the harvest of U.S. row crops nearly complete - the USDA reporting earlier this week that the corn harvest is 91% done and the soybean harvest is 92% done - grain traders are now turning their attention towards what farmers may plant in 2022. "Now that harvest is winding down more interest is being placed on next year's prospective acreage," said Karl Setzer of AgriVisor. "Firms are predicting smaller acreage on corn and larger acreage on soybeans this year with some predicting the highest total plantings in recent years. This comes from the high values we continue to see on these two crops, even with the recent set-back in futures."
Backtracking: U.S. ethanol inventories fell this week, defying analyst expectations that stocks are building. In its latest weekly report, the EIA said that U.S. ethanol inventories for the week ended November 12 totaled 20.08 million barrels - down over 200,000 barrels from the previous week. Analysts surveyed by Dow Jones this week had forecast stocks to rise by anywhere from 10,000 barrels to over 200,000 barrels. Daily production, meanwhile, rose this week - with production up 21,000 barrels per day to 1.06 million barrels per day this week. Analysts had expected production to be anywhere from 1 million barrels per day to 1.08 million barrels per day.
AHEAD
--The USDA will release its weekly export sales report at 8:30 a.m. ET Thursday.
--The USDA will release its monthly Cattle on Feed report at 3 p.m. ET Friday.
--The CFTC will release its weekly commitment of traders report at 3:30 p.m. ET Friday.
Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
11-17-21 1538ET
