Highlights
The producer price index (PPI) measures inflation at the wholesale level. Yesterday morning’s monthly report showed wholesale inflation in April was up 0.2% in April; 0.3% was expected. For the past 12 months, the PPI was 2.3%. These inflation numbers, being less than expected, reduce the probability of more interest rate increases. You can see why interest rates increased the past year with the chart of inflation at the wholesale level (PPI) the past 10 years:
China's April PPI was also reported yesterday. It was down 3.6% (a negative number) the past 12 months according to their National Bureau of Statistics. That may not make any difference for North American farmers, but it certainly is anti-inflationary when the world's #2 economy is deflating instead of inflating.
The USDA reported yesterday morning the sale of 132,000 mts of new crop soybeans to unknown.
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