Headlines:                                                                  

  • Glencore a better own for Bunge than ADM
    Archer Daniels Midland may have the financial muscle to snatch Bunge, from under the nose of Glencore. But is ADM the most appealing suitor? That is one message that (Markets Extra believes) might be gleaned from reading between the lines of comments by Ivan Glasenberg, the Glencore chief executive, to investors, as he restated the raw materials giant’s appetite for deals in agriculture. The ag trading industry “is in a poor state. It does need consolidation”, he told investors. And Glencore, which has a 50% stake in Glencore Agri, would “like to be part of that consolidation”.  “We continue to look at opportunities.”.
  • Cotton futures extend gains, while wheat falls further
    Cotton’s recovery in the last session may not be a one-off – nor the retreat in wheat prices either. Cotton futures for May, having gained 2.3% on Tuesday, added a further 0.6% to 79.45 cents a pound on Wednesday as of 10:15 UK time (04:15 Chicago time), back above their 40-day moving average. Headway is being spurred by cotton supply and demand forecasts which “see supply shortening and demand remaining strong”, said trading house ECOM. “In addition, the large speculative long position of recent weeks has been wound back reducing its ability to act as a damper on market volatility.”

 

Summary:

Like yesterday the Corn market traded higher at the open until about 10am EST from which point Corn futures sold off for the balance of the day. The early morning and overnight narrative was primarily the continued dry weather in Argentina with minimal rain in the 10-day forecast. Soybean also finished stronger today with buyers wanting to leverage gains in Beans. Corn finished the day flat about 3 cents off of its intraday highs. Yesterday, a joint venture between the US and Brazilian investors, FS Bioenergia, to build another corn ethanol plant in the state of Mato Grosso. The dry weather forecast for Argentina continues to do wonders for the Soybean complex. It was up another 7.50 cents today. Wheat has reached our critical timeline for a possible top this week and the last two days it has seen some selling. The July contract gave up 4 cents on the heels of rain in the 11-15 day forecast for the Hard-Red Winter Wheat growing regions.