Weekly Market Update 4-25-24
Here is your weekly market update from the Garden City Co-op Grain Origination Team.
Trivia
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Who is often credited with creating the world’s first car?
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In which city is Studio 54 located?
Answers at the bottom.
Market News
WHEAT MARKET: It’s been a wild wheat market the last several days, with July wheat futures up over 50 cents this week. Markets are on edge with declining wheat conditions due to dryness in the Southern Plains, as well as lingering dryness in southern Russia. This is paired with chatter that India may need to start importing wheat and continuing geopolitical headlines out of Iran, Israel/Gaza, and Russia/Ukraine. However, export demand for US wheat is still poor and domestic milling markets are soft. The market will continue to keep its eye on weather and crop conditions moving forward. These rallies are definitely opportunities to think about selling any remaining old crop, as well as levels worth considering for new crop.
CROP PROGRESS REPORT: Wheat conditions continue to slip due to dry conditions and possibly frost damage in some areas, with HRW good-to-excellent ratings falling 5% from last week to 50% good-to-excellent nationwide. This still has the crop rated above the five-year average. Kansas fell 7% from last week to 36% good-to-excellent. Some wetter weather forecasted through early May could change things – but missing it means that this crop’s condition will continue to decline. Planting continues at an above average rate across the country with corn planting progress doubling from last week to 12% planted. This is in line with last year and 2% ahead of the 5-year average. Soybeans were up 5% week-on-week, to 8% planted nationwide. The Kansas corn crop is reported at 26% planted, while the bean crop is reported at 6%.
Planting:Corn planting is underway across parts of the country, with USDA reporting the crop at 6% planted, up from 3% last week and slightly higher than the 5-year average. Kansas came in at 13% planted, a 9% jump from last week. Double digit planting progress has been made in Texas, North Carolina, Missouri, Tennessee, and Kansas.
Export Inspections: Corn this week exceeded the trade estimates and totaled 63.9 million bushels. Mexico was the largest recipient of corn this week, followed by Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and Colombia, each importing approximately 5 million bushels. The wheat exports performed as expected and remained steady, with 16.5 million bushels shipped. Out of these, Japan has received 3.4 million bushels from the PNW. The loadings to Japan included HRW, railcars, and loadings to Mexico, as well as Gulf vessels to the Dominican Republic and Honduras. Soybeans met in the middle of trade estimates, reporting a similar number from the prior week at 16.0 million total, with China taking the majority and followed by Mexico; soybeans are on pace required by the USDA; milo had inspected 7.2 million bushels, which was better than the 10-week average and shipped to China and Somalia.
Export Sales: Wheat sales were as expected as far as estimated sold 3.0 million bushels of old crop and 13.7 million bushels of new crop. China made a booking for WW cargo and added SRW to complete the vessel. The sales of HRW were relatively low, with Mexico buying old and new crop, and Japan and Ecuador purchasing new crop supplies. Corn sales were strong, selling 51.2 million bushels sold current and booking & 10.3 million bushels for new crop. As a major player, Mexico bought old crop and made new crop purchases. Beans reporting poor numbers, to say the least, not meeting estimates. Exporting 7.7 million bushels and 4.4 million for new crop sales, China focuses on the largest reported SA soybean crop and the prices in that complex. Milo sold 1.5 million with no new crop sales.
Weather
Today, it will become windy with scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon. Some areas may experience damaging winds and possible large hail. The high temperature will be around 87°F with winds of 15-25 mph. There is an increasing probability of rain, with an 80% chance in some areas. Over the weekend and into next week, you can expect temperatures in the high 70s and low 80s. The lows will be in the range of 50 degrees. There may be some wind at the beginning of the week, but the chances of rain will increase towards the end of the week. Starting from Wednesday and continuing throughout the remainder of the week, the chances of rain will be the highest.
SUMMIT MAX
Don’t forget that enrollment is currently open for our Summit Max contract for new crop corn and milo! This contract prices futures using the average of the daily high for December 2024 corn futures from May 1st – July 12th, which is historically the seasonal high time to price. This is a great tool to add diversification to your grain marketing portfolio. Our sign up ends on April 30th, so be sure to reach out to a member of our grain team to get enrolled or for more information.
Trivia Answers
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Karl Benz
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New York