Monday, December 30, 2024, 6:10 a.m.

Friday was a mostly positive day for our markets.  Spot corn closed up 1/4, spot soybeans closed down 8, spot winter wheat closed up 5 1/2 and spot spring wheat closed up 1 1/4.  In the overnight trade all of our markets are currently on the positive side.  Oil closed up $0.98 on Friday at $70.60 per barrel.  It is weaker in trading this morning with it now valued at $70.46 per barrel.  Our dollar traded between a low of $0.692 US and a high of $0.696 US on Friday with it closing out at $0.694 US.  It has strengthened a bit in the overnight trade with it currently valued this morning at $0.695 US.

Last week was a positive week for our markets with the majority of the increase in prices coming from increased basis.  Spot corn closed up $3 per tonne with next year’s harvest up $1 per tonne.  Spot soybeans closed up $7 per tonne with next year’s harvest up $8 per tonne.  Hard red spring wheat was up $2 per tonne across the board and winter wheat was up $5 per tonne for both spot and next year’s harvest.

Nearby corn futures closed up on Friday on the CBOT for the 6 consecutive trading day.  They were supported by the continued strong US export program which is currently running 29% ahead of last year’s pace.  For the week ending December 19^th their corn exports were more than double the 5 year average for the same week.  Remember with the last monthly WASDE report the USDA increased corn exports by 150 million bushels.  If the current pace continues with their corn exports this number will have to be increased again.

Weekly ethanol production was released on Friday for the week before Christmas.  It was up 0.4% week over week to sit at 1.107 million barrels per day.  Exports increased from 132,000 barrels per day up to 166,000 barrels per day.  Ethanol stocks increased by 1.9% for the week up to 23.074 million barrels (969 million gallons).  At this rate of production over a full marketing year they would utilize 5.80 billion bushels of corn which is larger than the current USDA projection.

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.