Headlines:

  • Soybeans, Grains Little Changed on Trade Uncertainty
    Soybeans and grains were little changed Wednesday as investors await news on exports and trade talks between the U.S. and China. The USDA earlier this week said China bought 612,000 metric tons of soybeans, well below the 1 million tons that had been reported. Still, talks between the countries last week went well enough that the sides have reportedly scheduled another round for later this month. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will reportedly travel to Beijing next week to continue the high-level talks. President Donald Trump has said he will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping to finalize a deal when the time comes. The White House has said if an agreement isn’t in place by March 1, it will raise its tariff rate on more than $200 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25% from their current level of 10%.
  • French, German farmers destroy crops after GMOs found in Bayer seeds
    Bayer said on Wednesday that farmers in France and Germany were digging up thousands of hectares of rapeseed fields after traces of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) banned for cultivation were found in seeds sold by the company. GMO crops are widely grown across the world, but they remain controversial in Europe, where very few varieties are authorized for growing and some countries like France have completely outlawed their cultivation, citing environmental risks. Checks by the French authorities during the autumn showed minute quantities of GMO seeds, estimated at less than 0.005 percent of the volume, in three batches of rapeseed seeds sold under the Dekalb brand, Catherine Lamboley, Bayer’s chief operating officer for France, said.

 

Summary:

There continues to be a lack of fresh news regarding the US/China trade situation. Senior officials announced that they will hold another round of talks in Beijing next week. The USDA are scheduled to release the February Supply and Demand report this Friday along with the previously delayed January reports. They will also by releasing the December quarterly stocks report, winter wheat planting intentions and the final corn/soybean production yield estimate. Trade estimates for December quarterly corn stocks range from 11.94 – 2.40 billion bushels. Trading was flat on the day. We can look for index rolling to potentially pick up the spread trade at the end of next week. There was confirmation of an export sale in the daily announcement yesterday of 2.6 mil tons beans to China, plus 274k tons to unknown. But beans spent the day flat to only marginally higher.