Weekly Market Update 9/02/2021

Here is your weekly market update from the Garden City Co-op Grain Origination Team.

Trivia

1. ​Who was the first and only U.S. president to serve non-consecutive terms?

2. How much did the United States pay Russia to purchase Alaska?

Answers at the bottom.

Market News

• Hurricane Ida made landfall near Port Fourchon, Louisiana on Sunday afternoon. Included in the damage is the Cargill export facility in Reserve, LA just outside of New Orleans. Other elevators and export facilities reported only minor damage with the ability to reopen in a couple of days. As of Tuesday morning, over 1 million homes and businesses in Louisiana and Mississippi were left without power, including all of New Orleans. Ida has downgraded to a tropical storm, but in her wake the U.S. has seen straight line winds, squalls, torrential rain, flooding, and tornadoes. 
• Some energy companies are starting to get offshore operations back online after Hurricane Ida. Ida's 150 mile per hour winds delivered a direct hit to the nation's energy infrastructure. About 80% of the Gulf of Mexico’s oil and gas output remained offline in hundreds of platforms and rigs as energy firms struggled to complete aerial surveys and return workers because of the damages to onshore terminals and base sites.
• US Dollar Index off August highs settling around 92.66. DJIA closing the month just barely off highs at 35,360 with highs around 35,630 in the middle of the month. S&P 500 closed just below record highs at 4,522.68. NASDAQ singing the same tune, closing the month at 15,259.24. 
• Garden City Co-op offices will be closed on Monday, ​September 6th in observance of Labor Day. If you plan to harvest, communicate with your local elevator manager to make sure you have a game plan in place.

Weather

6-10 day forecasts look to be warmer than normal and drier than normal as southwest Kansas heads into corn and milo harvest. Temps over the next 10 days look to range from mid 80s to 100 degrees with small possibilities of scattered storms. 

Temperature 6-10 Day	Precipitation 6-10 Day

Corn

This week has been quite the Debbie Downer due to Hurricane Ida now Tropical Storm Ida bringing the Gulf to its knees. The few shipping facilities that escaped with limited damage are unable to run due to no power and it could take weeks before power is restored. The Gulf coast accounts for about 60% of U.S. exports. This is a big blow and the markets have reacted as such with tight supplies and demand still strong from China. The corn market is trying to finish in the green today after a rough week. Export inspections came in under trade estimates at 22.1 million bushels shipped. Export sales saw net cancellations for old crop at -11.8 million bushels. New crop sales are 45.6 million bushels which are in-line with trade estimates. National corn rating was steady this week at 60% good to excellent. Average trade guesses were expecting a 1% decline in ratings. With Hurricane Ida and the damage to export facilities the funds were sellers of 7,917 contracts bringing the long down to 270,994 contracts. Corn harvest is officially underway for Garden City Coop, the first load being delivered to the Gano Elevator. With harvest kicking off we want to remind everyone to be safe and to think proactively to ensure a safe harvest.
 

Wheat

Wheat is also trying to stage a small comeback today. Wheat is seeing the same issues as corn and beans with export facilities in the Gulf and has been along for this downhill ride. Export inspections had wheat with 11.6 million bushels shipped. This was below trade guesses, but generally on pace for the USDA number. Mexico has been the top destination on the movement. Export sales were middle of the road for wheat with 10.9 million bushels sold. Hard red wheat was number one variety sold with 5.4 million bushels. KC wheat funds were slight buyers for the week adding 843 contracts bringing the current long to 47,391 contracts.
 

Soybeans

Soybeans are having a little bounce back today. Another flash sale to China of 126,000 metric tonnes reported this morning along with solid export sales numbers. Beans were strong in inspections this week with 13.9 million bushels shipped. This was followed up by solid export sales. Old crop sales reported 2.5 million bushels sold and 78.4 million bushels of new crop sold. The USDA is doing an early recount on bean acreage. Will be interesting to see if any added acres, but more notably how many will be zeroed out of the U.S. Northwest. Both will be accounted for in the September monthly WASDE. Soybeans were sellers this week in the funds as well selling off 13,954 contracts to bring the current long down to 83,225 contracts.
 

Milo 

Demand for milo is zilch. Export inspections showed 2.9 million bushels shipped, down from last weeks 5.1 million, with the majority going to China. Export sales were almost nonexistent with 2.4 thousand metric tonnes sold of old crop and a big zero burger for new crop. Crop conditions dropped 4% this week to 58% good to excellent. Kansas took a 6% hit dropping to 56% good to excellent.
 

Trivia Answers

1. Grover Cleveland. He served as the 22nd and 24th U.S. president. In between terms, he moved back to New York City and worked at a law firm.

2. The United States purchased Alaska from the Russian Empire for $7.2 million (or less than 2 cents per acre) in 1867.