BASIC & RECENT MARKET INFO

Tidbits The National Weather Service predicts the Eastern Corn Belt  will finally get some dry weather in the next two weeks. Perhaps all the corn will get planted in Indiana and Ohio after all. Tractors were in the West Central Ohio fields yesterday, but the soil is really too wet for a good crop growth. Compaction will be a problem in the Eastern Corn Belt. Aluísio Pancracio is the owner of Sastra Consultoria based in the municipality of Rio Verde, in the state of Goiás, Br

Tidbits Late morning yesterday, President Trump issued this press release: Yesterday morning the USDA announced the sale of 145,000 mts of soybean meal to the Philippines.   Goldman Sachs has increased its global oil demand  forecast but maintained its oil price forecast at $60 per barrel of Brent crude and $56 per barrel of West Texas Intermediate, despite current trading values exceeding those projections.

Highlights India said it attacked nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir Wednesday early morning. Pakistan reported at least three people died and 12 were injured. The attack occurred amid heightened tensions between the nuclear-armed countries in the aftermath of an attack on a Hindu tourist area in India’s Kashmir area in April in which 26 men were killed, but Pakistan denied that it had anything to do with the killings. A Pakistani military spokesman told broadcaster

Highlights OPEC+  members were scheduled to meet Monday, but the members decided to meet yesterday to discuss the pace of recovering the voluntary production cuts of the past two years, according to Kpler’s Amena Bakr. The virtual meeting’s agenda focused on “consensus building around maintaining the 411,000 barrels per day increased production for June.”   After yesterday’s meeting, OPEC+ announced it would increase crude oil output by 411,000 barrels per day starting June 1

Tidbits The Chinese economy  expanded at an annual rate of 5.4% in the first quarter of 2025, keeping the same pace as in the 4th quarter of 2024. The market expected a slower pace of expansion of just 5.1%. China’s economic annual growth rate is the strongest in 1½ years.   Manufacturing sales in Canada rose 0.2% in February to CA$72 billion; the market expected a decline of 0.2%. February was the fifth consecutive month of increases and the highest level of sales since Sept

Tidbits The markets will be closed on 18 April, Good Friday. Yesterday morning, the USDA announced the sale of 120,000 mts of old crop corn to Japan. USDA's second Crop Progress  report had spring wheat now at 7% planted, corn at 4%, soybean at 2%. Winter wheat conditions fell slightly to 47% good or excellent. The USDA on Monday said it had canceled a $3 billion program for climate-smart farming  projects after a review found it did not align with the priorities of the Trump

Tidbits OPEC+  is reversing its production cuts with output set to rise by more than expected in May because they see continuing healthy market fundamentals. After cutting their oil production for more than a year, OPEC+ will add 411,000 barrels per day in May. The larger-than-expected production boost by OPEC+ added to the tariff-fueled recession fears to sink oil prices more than $5 per barrel yesterday. The White House stated U.S. imports of oil, gas, and refined products

Highlights Trump Tariffs announced in the Rose Garden of the White House at a press conference 4 to 5 PM Eastern Time yesterday applied to 180 countries. The list below was identified as the greatest offenders. Note that Mexico and Canada are not on the list: Regarding Canada and Mexico, Trump’s Executive order stated, in part:     “With respect to articles from Canada and Mexico, I have imposed additional duties on certain goods to address a national emergency resulting from

Tidbits Corn was sharply lower yesterday because of the weekly ethanol report (see below) and the fear of Monday’s USDA acreage and inventory report as well as continued tariff rhetoric. New orders for durable goods in the U.S.  unexpectedly increased $2.7 billion or up 0.9% in February versus January following an upwardly revised 3.3% jump in January. The market expected February durable goods to be down 1%. Later this morning, we will get the U.S. GDP update. The market exp

Price of Crude Oil May Be Going Up Last week, the Iranian-backed Houthis said they would resume attacks on Israeli vessels sailing off the coast of Yemen in response to Israel’s latest blockade on Gaza. The Houthis' warning affected the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Arabian Sea.   President Trump ordered a series of airstrikes on the Houthi-held areas in Yemen on Saturday, promising to use “overwhelming lethal force” until Iranian-backed Houthi r

Highlights Corn deliveries on March futures have been zero since 7 March, so a search for a reason for yesterday’s 14¢ loss on May corn by late morning found no fundamental reason other than the price of eggs had fallen from $8.17 earlier this month to $5.51 yesterday according to the USDA, which reported the egg inventory increased 5.2% the past week. A bit later, we learned ethanol production was down 31,000 barrels per day from last week, but still above 1.06 million barre

Tidbits U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said President Trump is in constant contact with both Mexico and Canadian officials regarding a possible agreement that would pull the 25% tariffs applied on Tuesday. He said Mexico's team was cooperating; Canada's team not so much.    On Tuesday, the stock markets and crude oil market crashed, in large part, due to a GDP forecasting model used by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. The dollar is now 104.25 on the index, down

Highlights Crude oil  futures lost a dollar Thursday morning and closed about 40¢ lower after President Donald Trump repeated a pledge to raise U.S. oil production to lower energy costs. That statement unnerved traders despite Trump also said sanctions would be enforced and new sanctions applied that would eventually drop Iran’s crude oil exports to zero. Iran exported about 1.7 million barrels per day in 2024, up from 1.4 in 2023 and 900,000 barrels per day in 2022. With cru

Highlights As of Tuesday afternoon, the weather model  runs are showing the return of a wet pattern for Northern Brazil and dryer weather for Argentina and RGDS (South Brazil) for the 6-15 day range. That means more delay for the harvest of soybeans in the northern areas of Brazil, later safrinha corn planting and smaller Argentine crops.   Kory Melby said yesterday the second crop corn planting pace in Brazil’s Mato Grosso is the slowest since 2011 but similar to 2021. The 2

Highlights NOPA crush  in December was 206.604 million bushels, up 7% from November and up 6% from a year ago. This is the largest monthly NOPA crush ever recorded. New crush records have been set in the past four months and 10 of the past 12 months. The range of expectations were 202.0 and 209.5 million bushels, with the average of 205.5. Soy oil stocks were 1.236 billion pounds, up from 1.084 billion last month, but 17 million pounds less than expected. Soy oil inventory is

Tidbits A 25% tariff on imported Canadian crude oil  would have a major impact on North American energy markets, driving up prices for refiners in the U.S. Midwest and potentially hitting differentials for Canadian oil.   The U.S. imported about 4.0 million barrels of Canadian crude and petroleum products per day in 2024.   Refiners in the Midwest rely heavily on Canadian crude. Those facilities are configured to run heavier oil grades which are preferred for diesel fuel. Abo

Tidbits Yesterday morning, the USDA announced the sale  of: 202,000 mts of old crop soybeans to China 226,200 mts of old crop soybeans to unknown   The Biden Administration closed the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv,  Ukraine because of the escalating war. Historically, the U.S. has kept U.S. Embassies open until the very last possible day because it is the last safe-haven for Americans and America’s friends in the country. Following the U.S., Italy, Spain and a number of other countrie

Highlights The Labor Department reported yesterday morning the Consumer Price Index  (CPI; inflation at the retail level) increased 0.2% in October, taking the 12-month inflation rate up to 2.6%. Both numbers were in line with expectations. Later this morning, we will get the Producer Price Index (PPI), the measure of inflation at the wholesale level. The market expects it was up 0.2% in October as was the CPI. CPI chart for the last years: On Ag Talk, a Cherokee, Iowa farmer

Highlights December crude oil  made a 4-week low Tuesday after Israel's weekend retaliatory strike was very limited and raised hopes that the direct attacks between Iran and Israel were over for the time being. Iran said on Monday its oil industry was operating normally despite the weekend strike by Israel. The risk premium in oil prices was further reduced Monday when Israel said it was open to a short truce in Gaza in return for the release of a small number of hostages.  

Highlights Yesterday was an all-around ugly attitude day for a variety of reasons, none-of-which justified the magnitude of the lower price movement. Rainy season is getting stronger in Brazil.   Good harvest weather in the U.S., which we know it would be last week. China’s economy is not going to get fixed soon enough to maintain demand for crude oil and all other commodities. Crude was down more than $4 at one point for the second consecutive day. Disappointing corn and whe