Headlines:

  • Dow Launches New GMO Corn After Landing China Import Approval
    Dow Chemical Co secured import approval from China for its next-generation Enlist corn variety and announced it would be commercially available in the United States and Canada next year, but the company was still awaiting approval of Enlist soybeans from the world’s top soy importer. China on Wednesday approved two new varieties of genetically modified (GMO) crops for import from June 12, including Dow’s Enlist corn, engineered to combat weeds resistant to the widely used herbicide glyphosate, which is the main ingredient in Monsanto’s popular Roundup herbicide. China, the top export market for U.S. agricultural products, had pledged in May to speed up a review of biotech products as part of a trade deal with the United States, expediting eight products that have been pending for more than four years. Along with Enlist corn, Monsanto’s Vistive Gold soybeans were also approved for import, the Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement.
  • Spring wheat stalls despite talk of ‘dangerously low’ stocks
    Spring wheat, the flagship of the grains complex of late, encountered fierce selling towards the close. And with that, the rest of the grains flotilla turned tail, although losses proved largely relatively modest. Indeed, it was some of the softs which steered far further into negative territory, with raw sugar for July settling down 1.2% at 13.62 cents a pound, the weakest finish for a spot contract since February last year.

 

Summary:

The grain markets were slightly higher in early trading only to drift lower and fade into negative territory by the end of the day. Despite the Federal Reserve moving forward on a rate increase and plans to tighten monetary policy the US Dollar continued lower today. Crude Oil futures also took a big downside hit. The drop in the Greenback did little to support commodity prices today. Changes in weather forecasts and profit taking undermined the rally that was engineered by Spring Wheat and the markets sold off hard as the day progressed. The Corn complex was down ranging from 3½ to 4¼ cents. Soybean ranged from down ¾ cent to up ¼ cent. Wheat rounded out the day down 1 ¾ cent to 1 ¼ cent.