Monday, January 20, 2025, 7:05 a.m.

Our markets are closed today for the Martin Luther King holiday in the US.  Our office remains open.

Friday was a positive day for our markets.  Spot corn closed up 9 3/4, spot soybeans closed up 15, spot winter wheat closed up 1 1/4 and spot spring wheat closed up 2.  As noted above the markets are closed today.  Oil closed down $1.45 on Friday at $77.85 per barrel.  It is weaker again this morning with it now trading at $77.08 per barrel.  Our dollar traded between a low of $0.691 US and a high of $0.695 US on Friday with it closing out at the low end of the range at $0.691 US.  This morning it is up just a bit with it currently valued at $0.692 US.

Last week was a positive week for our markets.  Spot corn closed up $8 per tonne with harvest 2025 corn up $5 per tonne.  Old crop soybeans closed up $7 per tonne with new crop up $3 per tonne.  Spring wheat was flat on the spot market and closed up $2 per tonne for the 2025 harvest.  Winter wheat was up $4 per tonne for old crop and $3 per tonne for this year’s harvest.

Weather in Argentina continues to be a market mover.  Early last week it was still hot and dry and this helped to support the corn and soybean markets.  Rain events came on Thursday which was a negative for prices.  Also late on Thursday updated crop ratings in Argentina were released and this was a positive for the markets on Friday as these ratings decreased.  It seems that the recent dry weather was a negative for the growing crop but the rains now coming will be a positive.  Time will tell which event has more effect on production levels going forward.

As we talked about last week managed money continues to increase their long position (looking for prices to go up) in the corn market.  They currently are holding over 300,000 contracts which is their largest long position since June of 2022.  Remember this is great for prices as long as it last but when they start to liquidate their position they will most likely pull down the market faster and farther than normal supply demand fundamentals would indicate.

President elect Trump and President Xi from China had a telephone conversation on Friday and this was seen as positive for our markets.  Maybe a positive phone call will keep from a renewed tariff war starting between these two countries.

The marketplace will be watching how fast President Trump brings in the threatened tariffs.  This can be a major market mover depending on what he does.  Trump Turmoil is going to be a major story going forward!

If you would like to talk about the markets or price some of your crop for the future or in store, please reach out to us via phone or email to info@northgowergrains.com. Prices quoted herein are for product at our elevator.