Grains Matter Chatter – Episode 230
Monday was a mixed day for our markets. Harvest corn closed up 3, spot soybeans closed down 6 1/4, spot winter wheat closed down 2 1/4 and spot spring wheat closed up 1 1/2. In the overnight trade corn and the wheat sector are positive with soybeans still on the negative side. Oil closed down $0.58 yesterday at $70.71 per barrel. It is weaker in trading again this morning with it now valued at $70.00 per barrel. Our dollar had a high yesterday morning before noon of $0.703 US and has trended mostly lower since then. This morning it is currently valued at $0.700 US.
Monthly soybean crushing data was released yesterday in the US with the November crush decreasing by 3.4% from the record crush level in October. They still utilised 193.185 million bushels of soybeans for the month. This is a new record for the month of November and is the fourth largest ever for any month. Remember last month we talked about the demand for soybean oil and how it continues to drive the crush market to maintain these large crush numbers. Soybean prices are pulling back this week with the market focused in on the large crop projected for South America. With mostly favourable weather occurring and being projected the new record crop production numbers are becoming more realistic looking every day. The US Federal Reserve is meeting this week and an interest rate decrease is expected. If they decided not to decrease their benchmark rate it would likely strengthen their dollar versus most other currencies. The Canadian Dollar will remain under pressure with both our lower interest rates and the larger than expected deficit announced yesterday by our government. How low our dollar will go is yet to be seen.