Wheat Tumbles as Australian Production Outlook Rises -- Daily Grain Highlights
November 29 2021 - 03:54PM
Dow Jones News
By Kirk Maltais
-- Wheat for March delivery fell 2.1% to $8.22 1/4 a bushel on
the Chicago Board of Trade Monday amid a higher revision to the
projected Australian crop by the country's agricultural bureau.
-- Corn for March delivery fell 1.6% to $5.82 1/4 a bushel.
-- Soybeans for January delivery fell 0.9% to $12.41 1/2 a
bushel.
HIGHLIGHTS
Bumper Crop: CBOT wheat futures led the grains complex lower
Monday after Australia's agricultural bureau said the country's
crop is expected to be a record 34.4 million metric tons, up from
previous estimates. In its last WASDE report, the USDA forecast
Australian wheat production at 31.5 million tons.
"[The bureau's] crop estimates lean slightly bearish wheat and
canola/rapeseed markets, but quality and logistics issues persist,"
said AgResource.
Variant Volatility: For the stock market, reconsideration about
the threat of a new Covid-19 Omicron variant provided a lift for
prices, although for grains support evaporated.
"The job of the markets over the coming days and weeks will be
to assess whether Friday's selloff was justified, with perhaps more
selling needed, or whether it was overdone, with a significant
recovery needed," said Arlan Suderman of StoneX. "The ultimate
question that must be answered is, how lethal is the new
variant?"
INSIGHTS
Inspection Detection: Inspections of U.S. soybeans are slightly
lower from the previous week, but are supported by strong exports
to China. In its latest weekly grain export inspections report, the
USDA said that inspections of soybeans totaled 2.14 million metric
tons for the week ended Nov. 25, down slightly from 2.43 million
tons reported last week.
Soybeans being inspected for China came in 1.39 million tons.
Other leading destinations included Egypt, Mexico, Taiwan and
Italy.
Right Place, Wrong Time?: Archer Daniels Midland said it
completed its acquisition of a European soy producer, but the
acquisition comes as at least one alternative meat producer
recently cut its sales outlook. ADM said Monday that its
acquisition of Serbia-based Sojaprotein marks a "significant
expansion" of its "global alternative protein capabilities."
It is the latest move into alternative proteins for ADM, with
the company adding new plants globally to produce proteins out of
vegetables such as soybeans and peas.
Earlier in November, Beyond Meat cut its outlook for sales in
the fourth quarter, causing some analysts to speculate that
Beyond's business had reached market saturation faster than
expected.
AHEAD
-- The USDA is scheduled to release its monthly agricultural
prices report at 3 p.m. EST Tuesday.
-- The EIA is due to release its weekly ethanol production and
stocks report at 10:30 a.m. EST Wednesday.
-- The USDA is scheduled to release its monthly grain crushings
report at 3 p.m. EST Wednesday.
Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 29, 2021 15:39 ET (20:39 GMT)
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