Corn Rises as Chinese Futures Jump on Drought
October 19 2020 - 4:00PM
Dow Jones News
By Kirk Maltais
--Corn for December delivery gaining 0.8% to $4.05 1/4 a bushel,
on the Chicago Board of Trade Monday, rising in tandem with Chinese
corn futures amid drought issues there.
--Soybeans for November delivery rose 0.4% to $10.54 1/4 a
bushel.
--Wheat for December delivery rose 0.3% to $6.27 a bushel.
HIGHLIGHTS
Follow the Leader: U.S. corn futures trading on the CBOT rose
Monday, driven in part by an uptick in Chinese corn futures.
"China's Dalian corn futures pushed to new record highs with
January futures closing to $9.86 per bushel, up 15 cents per
bushel," said AgResource. "The ongoing rise in China's corn futures
will be a supportive factor for CBOT prices with traders looking
for new U.S. buying." The USDA didn't announce any new flash sales
to China today, but did confirm a large sale of corn to "unknown
destinations." Dry weather concerns have been a factor pushing
Chinese prices higher, possibly making buying U.S. corn exports a
more attractive option.
Same Story: Russian dryness was still a driver for U.S. wheat
futures Monday. At an intraday high of nearly $6.37 per bushel, the
most-active wheat contract hit its highest level since Dec. 2014,
and grain traders expect it to continue to move higher in the
short-term. "Wheat is continuing its impressive move higher, led by
Russian dryness," said Doug Bergman of RCM Alternatives. However,
he adds, the wheat market may soon find its high. "The market is
getting over-heated, and there are some rains in the forecast this
week," said Mr. Bergman.
INSIGHTS
Missing the Mark: Export inspections for U.S. wheat were lower
than expected this week, according to USDA data -- potentially a
signal that wheat futures may curb their upward momentum this week.
Export inspections for U.S. wheat for the week ending October 15
totaled only 239,688 metric tons, well below analyst expectations
of 400,000 tons to 600,000 tons, said Terry Reilly of Futures
International. Indonesia was the leading destination, at 54,606
tons, according to the USDA. Meanwhile, corn and soybean
inspections met the high end of analyst expectations at 911,012
tons and 2.17 million tons, respectively.
Siding With Trump: Former vice president Joe Biden has an
8.5-point advantage over the incumbent President Donald Trump,
according to polling data from FiveThirtyEight. Even so, farmers
are increasingly aligning with Trump ahead of the election next
month. A September poll by Farm Futures found 75% of farmers
surveyed in July planned to vote for Mr. Trump, compared with 72.6%
ahead of the 2016 election. Broader rural communities, too, lean
toward Mr. Trump: A September poll of rural voters by Zogby
Analytics and agriculture-industry publication Progressive Farmer
found 49.5% backed Mr. Trump and 32% backed former Vice President
Joe Biden; about 29% of respondents were farmers.
AHEAD:
--The EIA releases its weekly update on ethanol production and
inventories at 10:30 a.m. ET Wednesday.
--Ethanol producer and oil refiner Valero Energy Corp. will
release its third-quarter earnings report before the stock market
opens on Thursday.
--The USDA will release its latest weekly export sales numbers
at 8:30 a.m. ET Thursday.
--The USDA will release its monthly cold storage report at 3
p.m. ET Thursday.
--The USDA will release its monthly livestock slaughter report
at 3 p.m. ET Thursday.
Jacob Bunge contributed to this article.
Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 19, 2020 15:45 ET (19:45 GMT)
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