The markets were closed yesterday for the Memorial Day holiday in the US. Friday was a mostly negative day for our markets. Harvest corn closed down 2 1/2, harvest soybeans closed down 4 3/4, harvest winter wheat closed down 2 and harvest spring wheat closed up 6 3/4. In the overnight trade corn and the wheat sector are negative with soybeans on the positive side. Oil closed up $0.33 on Friday at $61.53 per barrel. It is stronger in trading this morning with it now valued at $61.63 per barrel. Our dollar started out yesterday morning at $0.729 US and then trended lower going down to $0.726 US in the overnight trade. It has bounced back just a bit this morning with it currently valued at $0.727 US.
It is interesting to see this morning that soybeans are our only commodity on the positive side. The suspension of the new tariffs on the EU definitely can affect the soybean market. Member countries of the EU together import just over 20% of the US soybean exports every year. Anything that hurts trade between the EU and the US would most likely be bad for soybean futures. Conversely the ongoing trade talks are seen as positive for soybeans.
Reports out of Argentina about their current soybean crop are mixed. Harvest is ongoing with it now reported at over 75% complete. There are reports that production levels should reach the projected level of 50 to 51 million tonnes. Concerns over the recent flooding in parts of their soybean growing areas are varied. Some reports show that between 1 million and 2 million tonnes of crop maybe lost. This will include both some fields that will not be harvested and other soybeans that have already been harvested. Storage bags are widely utilised in this area and the flooding that took place is most definitely hard on the storage bags.
Rains are coming to most of the droughted wheat growing areas of China this week. This should greatly reduce the stress on their growing crop. How much damage was made and how much production was lost we will never know. The main indication of the reduced yields will show up in Chinese imports of wheat over the next year.
As we noted yesterday this afternoon the USDA releases their weekly Crop Progress Report. This is the first report of the year that will give crop ratings for the spring planted crops. The markets will be expecting strong positive numbers for our commodities.
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.
Delores Seiter | 613-880-7458
Bob Orr | 613-720-1271
Office | 613-489-0956
