Highlights
The US jobs data yesterday morning was much better than expected, which is very bad for commodities because good economic news means higher interest rates for a longer time. That means a stronger dollar, which makes US exports more expensive for foreign buyers. The US added 272,000 jobs in May; the market expected just 182,000. The unemployment rate was up 0.1% to 4.0% from last month. The average hourly earnings were up 0.4% from 0.2% in April.
Yesterday, Brazil’s soybean price for August delivery to China became more expensive than soybeans at PNW ports for September and October shipment. Maybe that will get some new crop beans sales on the books to China. Speaking of which, the USDA reported yesterday China did buy 104,000 mts of old crop soybeans.
A bit more clarity on the proposed elimination tax credits for grain buyers in Brazil. As we reported, the President said he wanted to do away with the tax credits. The media report said that and included that the Congress would have to approve the measure. What the media sources we followed did not say was the elimination of tax credits would begin immediately, but if the Congress did not approve the elimination of the tax credit within four months, the tax credits would be reinstated.