Happy Easter Holiday

Our office and the markets are closed tomorrow for the Good Friday holiday.  Both will reopen on Monday.

Wednesday was a negative day for our markets.  Spot corn closed down 3 1/2, spot soybeans closed down 2 1/2, harvest winter wheat closed down 17 3/4 and harvest spring wheat closed down 15 1/2.  In the overnight trade all of our markets are on the positive side.  Oil closed down $1.26 yesterday at $100.12 per barrel.  It is much stronger this morning with it now trading at $111.19 per barrel.  Our dollar had a high of $0.721 US yesterday before noon and has trended lower since then.  This morning it is currently valued at $0.718 US.

Prices pulled back yesterday with wheat leading the way negative.  The 2-week weather forecast is showing some precipitation coming to much of the dry areas of the US winter wheat growing regions.  We should note however that this precipitation does not seem to be covering some of the HRW wheat growing areas that are currently under the most stress with a lack of moisture.  It is fairly easy to bring forward some negative yield implications for their growing winter wheat growing crop however we need to point out that US wheat is overpriced on the world market and this will likely keep a lid on prices going forward.

One positive for yesterday was that soybeans did close 15 cents off their low for the day for the spot market and 10 cents off their low for this coming harvest.  With intended planting acres coming in on Tuesday lower then pre report estimates it is possible that the marketplace is seeing soybeans underpriced.  If China does follow through on their pledge to purchase 25 million tonnes next year and with the increased biodiesel targets in the US soybean demand should remain strong.  With these thoughts prices did rally as the trading day progressed and it is nice to see that they are trading positive this morning.

President Trump spoke last night with more back and forth talk about the war in Iran.  With his comments that they will bomb Iran back into the ‘dark age’ if they do not agree to his terms for ending the current war crude oil prices have jumped higher this morning.  I was at a meeting yesterday that a speaker talked about the flow of fertilizer out of the Middle East.  It seems that Eastern Ontario probably has enough fertilizer for this year but projections of where prices and availability of fertilizer will go for next year is still just a guess.  This is a major concern going forward and unfortunately, we have no control over this.

Friday’s thought (one day early): Your energy shifts the moment you decide you are no longer available for what drains you!