Headlines:

  • UK to be ‘net wheat importer, again’, after disappointing yields
    The UK, once one of the European Union’s top wheat exporters, looks poised to be a net importer of the grain again this season, Gleadell said, citing a harvest which has “largely disappointed”. The UK began 2017-18 as a net importer, buying in 155,497 tonnes in July, compared with exports of 16,254 tonnes. But while there is often such an imbalance early in the season, ahead of the onset of supplies from the domestic harvest, the trend of imports exceeding exports looks set to hold, for what would be the fourth time in the past six years. “It is evident that we will be a net importer again this season,” the grain merchant said. Historically, the UK has been a net wheat exporter, a position it ceded only once up to 2011-12, on data going back to 1995-96. On average, it was a net exporter of 1.7m tonnes over those 17 seasons. However, production of the grain has suffered from the historic wetness of 2012, which in curtailing autumn sowings depressed the 2013 harvest too, and more lately by the battle against black grass, which has prompted a shift to spring crops to create a longer window for applying pesticides. Spring sowings continue to account for only a small proportion of overall UK wheat seedings. Meanwhile, domestic demand has increased, thanks largely to the increased running rates of the Ensus and Vivergo ethanol plants, which have capacity for more than 1m tonnes of wheat a year.
  • Arkansas One Step From Ban on Dicamba Next Summer
    Arkansas on Thursday moved just one step away from barring sprayings next summer of an herbicide linked to widespread U.S. crop damage, setting the stage for a potential legal showdown between the state and chemical maker Monsanto Co. The Arkansas State Plant Board advanced a proposal prohibiting use of dicamba weed killers from April 16 to Oct. 31, 2018, after farmers reported that soybeans and other crops were damaged when the herbicide drifted away from where it was sprayed this summer.  Chemical companies have blamed damage to crops that cannot tolerate dicamba on farmers misusing the chemical. Specialists, though, have said the weed killers are risky because they can vaporize and drift across fields after they are sprayed on dicamba-resistant soybeans or cotton developed by Monsanto. That process, known as volatility, occurs more often in high temperatures, according to experts.

Summary:

Increased demand has thrusted Soybean futures to double digit gains with them finishing the day 14.25 to 14.50 cents higher at the closing bell. Corn followed suit with positive gains of its own ranging from 3 to 3.50 cents higher. Wheat futures were mixed with the nearby contracts trading softer with losses of 2.50 and 2.75 cents. Next year’s May contract was up 3.50 cents. Crude Oil futures continues to struggle with resistance at the $51 mark. The strong rise in Soybean today comes on the heels of a great weekly sales report yesterday that was followed up today with private exporters reporting 190k metric tons of Soybean for delivery to Mexico for the 2017-18 marketing year. The US Dollar was weaker the last two days but is still well above key support at 91.50. It was weaker during intraday trading by managed to recover and trading closer to the top of its intraday range by the end of the day.

The rally in Corn was perhaps induced by news expected disappointing yields in central Kansas because of drought damaged crop areas. With 14% of the US Corn producing area experiencing a drought, including central Kansas, analysts are seeing the results of a lack of moisture with below-average yields on his sandy soils.