Thursday, March 20, 2025, 7:55 a.m.

Wednesday was a negative day for our markets.  Harvest corn closed down 2 3/4, harvest soybeans closed down 5 1/2, harvest winter wheat closed down 2 and harvest spring wheat closed down 2 1/4.  In the overnight trade corn and spring wheat are mixed with soybeans and winter wheat negative.  Oil closed up $0.01 yesterday at $66.91 per barrel.  It is stronger again this morning with it now valued at $67.16 per barrel.  Our dollar had a high yesterday morning of $0.699 US and has trended lower since then.  This morning it is currently valued at $0.695 US.

Weekly ethanol production in the US increased last week by 43,000 barrels per day to sit at 1.105 million barrels per day.  Stock levels decreased slightly as blender demand increased week over week.  Current production pace through the corn marketing year so far is 4.2% ahead of 2023/24.  As we have written many times the USDA will have to deal with this in one of their monthly WASDE reports.

Strong ethanol production and continued strong weekly corn exports have supported the corn market so far this marketing year.  On the negative side more confirmation has come out that corn imports into China are running at their slowest pace in seven years.  Last year they imported just over 20 million tonnes of corn and this year the projections are for less then 9 million tonnes.  Increased domestic production and possibly less demand for livestock feed are the main reasons for the decline.

On the interest rate front the US Federal Reserve did not change their benchmark rate yesterday.  They have decided to stay the current course with the likelihood of two interest rate decreases still projected for later this year.  They also stated that they will respond to any trade issues if and when they come up.  Just last week interest rates were decreased by the Bank of Canada as they have more concerns that our economy needs some stimulus to keep moving 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.