Elevator hours this week will depend on whether the combines are rolling or not.  Please call ahead if you are planning on coming after 5 pm. 

Monday was a strong positive day for our markets.  Harvest corn closed up 4 1/2, spot soybeans closed up 32 3/4, spot winter wheat closed up 17 and spot spring wheat closed up 9.  In the overnight trade corn and the wheat sector are positive with soybeans mixed.  Oil closed down $0.18 yesterday at $59.91 per barrel.  It is flat in trading this morning with it now valued at $59.97 per barrel.  Our dollar started out yesterday morning at $0.713 US and then trended lower going down to $0.711 US late in the trading day.  This morning it has bounced back up with it currently valued once again at $0.713 US.

The soybean market rebounded big time yesterday with it more than covering its losses on the CBOT from Friday.  Although there was a couple of negative for the markets from the weekend some positive announcements yesterday ruled the day.

Firstly was a strong rumour that Chinese buyers stepped up yesterday and purchased at least 14 cargoes of US soybeans yesterday.  This would total about 840,000 tonnes with these soybeans scheduled to be shipped in the December and January time frame.  We should note that some reports had them purchasing up to 20 cargoes.  Either way they have now purchased roughly 10% of the 12 million tonnes target that was included in the recent ‘Trade Pact’ between the US and China.

Secondly the monthly soybean crush data out of the US for October was very supportive for the soybean market.  US crushers utilised 227.65 million bushels of soybeans in October which was a new all-time high for any month.  It was an increase of 13.86% from October of last year and an even larger 15.05% increase from September.  The USDA has projected for the soybean crush to expand by 4.5% this year in the US however it is currently running at about 13% above last year’s crush rate.  More domestic demand for soybeans is a great thing for support on the CBOT.

Wheat prices rallied yesterday even with some negative world news for the wheat market.  Exports out of Russia are continuing at a very strong pace as they have once again decreased their export price.  As world supplies remain strong Russia is setting the world price and is keeping their position as the largest exporter in the world.  This should be a big negative for US prices and as such it is very strange to see US prices increasing at this time.

It was somewhat expected that the USDA would release their weekly Crop Progress Report yesterday however they made an announcement that it would be delayed.  No specific date was given on when these reports would be resumed now that their government shutdown is no longer in effect.  The report was expected to confirm that the soybean harvest is almost fully complete and the corn harvest is now above 90% completed.

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.