RCM Ag Services

Category: Weekly Prices

  • Home
  • Weekly Prices
05 Mar 2021
Agriculture, Corn, Crop Insurance, Dow Jones, Market Commentary, Market Updates, Soybeans, Weekly Prices rcmagserv 0 comment

Ag Market Updates: February 27 – March 5

Corn had noticeable losses this week after volatility in the markets picked back up. A disappointing, but not surprising, export report helped to keep pressure on markets. Thursday was off to a good start until about midday when the selling began to finish, well off the highs for a mixed close. Rain has crept into the northern Argentina forecast which will help a hurting corn crop. The continued wetness of northern Brazil keeps the regions harvest behind with no clear window for them to catch up/make serious progress. The May contract closed below the 20 day moving average at the close of Thursday’s trading. There has been support below these levels the last few times markets tested this level.  How Friday’s trade finishes will be important to maintain the technical uptrend.

The March USDA Report be out on Tuesday the March 9th and will be the next big market mover.  Traders are in need of some bullish news to hold off the bears.  Consider covering a portion of your new crop with some downside protection and or forward sales ahead of the report.

Via Barchart.com

 

Soybeans made small gains on the week as the continued struggles with the Brazilian harvest has continued to be supportive for the past/many months. The problem hanging over the market right now is the confirmation of ASF in China AGAIN (will it ever end?). After all the talk of China’s improved process of feeding pigs = driving soybean exports, if ASF gets out of hand (i.e 2018) it could pull the rug out from under the demand story. Despite this news, soybean oil prices continue to climb supporting beans and slowing the blow from the ASF scare. Exports, like corn, were not great but that was expected as sales remain strong and well ahead of this time last year. The weather issues in South America will continue to support US beans as they struggle to finish harvest and will push back any double crop area planting. Another note about the quality of the South American crop- the Buenos Ares Grains Exchange rated the Argentinian crop 10% good to excellent down from 15% the previous week. South America’s troubles are the US bean prices gains.


Via Barchart.com

 

Dow Jones
The Dow had a tough week along with the other major indexes as the prospects of interest rate pressure threw cold water on stock prices.  The 10 year US Treasury Note closed Thursday over 1.5% for the first time since the pandemic began. This has brought caution to the markets as tech has gotten hammered and the Fed may be losing its grip on its direction for interest rates.

Insurance
February was important for revenue-based insurance averages. At the end of the month the price for corn is $4.5848 and soybeans are $11.8665.

Weekly Prices

Via Barchart.com

19 Feb 2021
Agriculture, Corn, Dow Jones, Market Commentary, Market Updates, Soybeans, Weekly Prices rcmagserv 0 comment

AG MARKET UPDATES: FEBRUARY 13 – 19

It’s been a slow week for Corn gains as China is celebrating the lunar new year. With the lack of Chinese buying the markets turned elsewhere for news. South America’s weather is still pretty consistent with wet conditions in northern Brazil and southern Brazil and Argentina remaining pretty dry. The next few weeks will be very important for Brazil/Argentina as soybean harvest is already behind pace. The Ag Forum has released the USDA expected planted acreage; Corn was pegged at 92 million acres, which was around most estimates, and not much of a surprise to the markets.

 

Friday’s supply and demand report is going to be the most important piece of news this week as it will be a reminder how tight the world and US supply are. The report, South American weather, and China being back from holiday will be where the focus shifts.

 


Via Barchart.com

 

Like corn, Soybeans gained this week, despite a slow news cycle. Harvest delays continue in South America, to put it in perspective, the harvest is just reaching the halfway point of where they typically are at this point. The January crush report had another record month with bean crush coming in at 184.6 million bushels. The US will runout of beans this summer if this crush rate continues, and after 5 record weeks in a row it does not seem to be slowing down. The Ag Forum came out with an estimated 90 million acres of soybeans for this year which was right around estimates as well.

 

It will be important to keep watching exports as China comes back from their holiday and will begin normal activity again. The news to end the week will be the supply and demand report so how China responds next week will give us an idea how accurate we think the report is.


Via Barchart.com

 

It’s been a strong week for Wheat as it bounced up from the lower end of the range it has been trading in. The cold weather throughout much of the country may have sparked the move this week as the possibility of damage to the crop comes in to play. It will be challenging to get a read on the extent of the damage until the spring making it more of a waiting game instead of a knee jerk reaction. Winterkill rallies are usually short-lived so we will see with this one. The USDA is estimating 45 million acres of wheat this year which is up by less than 1 million from last year. Even though we had a rally this week wheat appears to still be range bound as it has been.


Via Barchart.com

 

Dow Jones
The Dow has had an up and down week as market news has been quiet but the focus of the historic cold in parts of the country has caused energies to surge. The winter storm that ripped through the country has caused issues travelling in many areas slowing down the Covid-19 vaccine distribution and slowing down getting shots in arms as well. Cases have been on the decline the last few weeks and it will be important for this trend to continue.

Insurance
This month is important for revenue-based insurance averages so it will be important to keep an eye on the markets even if you do not plan on making any sales. As of the close on 2/18 the price for corn is $4.5304 and soybeans are $11.711.

Weekly Prices

Via Barchart.com

12 Feb 2021
Agriculture, Corn, Cotton, Crop Insurance, Dow Jones, Market Commentary, Market Updates, Research, Soybeans, Weekly Prices, Wheat rcmagserv 0 comment

Ag Market Updates: February 6 – 12

Corn lost on the week following dissapointing numbers in the February USDA WASDE Report. Despite the big losses on Tuesday and Wednesday following the report a modest bounce was seen Thursday to give the bulls a little sigh of relief. As we have seen with previous dips there has been buying after the dips that help support the market. The big surprise in the report was US corn ending stocks number being over 100 million bushels higher than trade expectations at 1.502 billion bushels. They did lower them from the January report of 1.552 BBU but not near as much as expected. The world carryout was was also bearish with the USDA raising world carryout to 286.53 million metric tonnes, a raise of 2.7 mmt, and well above trade estimates. The bullish news was that Chinese imoprt expectations increased by 256 million bushels but the US export total was only increased 50 million bushels. With this bearish news funds also began to offload some of their long positions adding fuel to the fire. You should also not expect any news to come out of China as they head into their Lunar New Year so buying from China will be slow. Parts of Argentina that have gotten needed rain may have received more help than expected on their crops as some predict it helped more than anticipated. The positive day on Thursday to stop the bleeding was important for the bulls but how the week ends will be important.


Via Barchart.com

 

Soybeans were lower this week as the bearish news in the report for corn moved triggered a broad based sell off at the Board of Trade. Beans took it on the chin Wednesday as fund selling led the way. Despite a neutral report on the beans side, when funds decide to take profit they are the market mover. New export offers from Brazil were part of drawback as they were 40 cents below the US market and that collapse brought the US to about even. The USDA report showed that the US cannot export any more than about 250 million bushels the rest of the marketing year before bins are empty. CONAB released supportive bean crop estimates on Thursday coming in just above 133 million metric tonnes. The tightness of world stocks is on every traders mind and likely what has caused the markets to jump around – While 100 million additional bushels is only 1% of the 10 billion bushels produced any and all changes to production are being watched. The volatility of the past few weeks is best displayed on the visual daily ranges in the chart below.


Via Barchart.com

 

Cotton once again saw a big week of gains as demand around the world continues. Exports were strong this week with Vietnam, Turkey and China being the biggest buyers. The National Cotton Council’s planted acreage estimates came out this week with the following:

The NCC sees Upland acreage down 4.9% Y-O-Y, at 11.3mm acres. Pima acreage is seen down 20.7%, to 161,000. Overall, this imputes a 5.2% decline to 11.5mm acres. (CottonGrower.com)

With only 4 trading days next week, On-Call sales basis the March contract, will have to be fixed (bought) by the Mills before Friday, ahead of First Notice Day on Monday, Feb 22. The loss of acres was expected with soybeans and corn being very attractive in price vs cotton currently. If cotton can continue its run up it may be able to gain some acres back but this recent run will need to continue. West Texas continues to be extremely dry and will need some moisture heading into the spring.

Via Barchart.com

 

Dow Jones
The Dow gained this week as supportive news from vaccines and the continued drop in Covid cases around the US. As many investors remain bullish looking at 2021 it is important to note that we still have a long way to get out of the storm that has been the last year.

Wheat
Wheat has been in a sideways trade the last few weeks and looks to continue. There was no big news in the report that caused any knee jerk reaction in the market as it followed beans and corn lower on the week.

Insurance
Remember that this month is important for revenue-based insurance averages so it will be important to keep an eye on the markets even if you do not plan on making any sales. As of the close on 2/11 the price for corn is $4.5141 and soybeans are $11.645.


Via Barchart.com

05 Feb 2021
Agriculture, Corn, Cotton, Dow Jones, Soybeans, USDA Report, Weekly Prices rcmagserv 0 comment

Ag Market Updates January 30 – February 5


Corn gained on the week as South America has had issues with their first harvest and the continued wet conditions delaying it in north and central Brazil. Huge exports this week to China and other strong ones to accompany it were very welcome to see. A total of 293 million bushels, a weekly record, was the good news the bulls needed. It is easy to get in a lull where you expect these exports at this point with the past few months of demand but whenever they come in above or at the high end of expectations it is what is needed to keep the momentum. Funds continue to be long close to 2 billion bushels, so like beans the daily volatility may stick around. Continued exports and continued delay of Brazil’s harvest will be the bullish news under the market going into the USDA report on Tuesday that could throw some surprises at us – there is one thing we know for sure it is the USDA is full of surprises (both good and bad).


Via Barchart

 


Soybeans rebounded this week as the markets were not as volatile as the previous couple of weeks. South America got some welcome rain in parts of Argentina and looks to remain hot and dry for the near future. The wetness in Brazil delaying their first corn harvest does not have much of an impact on soybeans, but as we know any big news for one of them will still have a ripple effect. Funds continue to be long as they entered the week long 820 MBU. As mentioned last week when funds decide to take profits, we may see price volatility in stretches. Good exports this week continued as we see consistent demand from China. As beans have been range bound the last 2 weeks relative to the past few months there has been end user buying dips below $13.50 to provide some support.


Via Barchart

 


Cotton got a strong bounce on Thursday after trading relatively flat for the week. This week’s exports were strong with cotton going to 18 destinations. Overseas mills demand has stayed consistent and will continue to be the driving force behind cotton. With all the cotton that has been sold it is not hard to imagine that there will be a supply squeeze here in the US that will continue to drive prices higher as well. The supply squeeze will come as demand remains high; however, at some point we will begin to run out of cotton to export if current pace keeps up. Outside political pressure on China and their accused human rights abuses continue to cause them troubles exporting cotton which has helped the US. As great as cotton’s run has been it still is well below where it needs to be to be competitive with grains. For this reason, cotton acres are expected to fall over 500,000 acres to 11.5MA which would be supportive for new crop cotton as we head into the spring, but will we get a rally before then to keep those acres? The demand is there so it may be a last-minute decision for some farmers.


Via Barchart

 


Dow Jones
The Dow gained this week and traded to new contract highs as market volatility has slowed down following the short squeeze drama of the last week. Covid-19 cases in the US have been trending lower for new daily cases along with vaccines continuing to roll are both great news. It is also earnings season so there has been lots of news both supportive and negative for many companies as any positive COVID-19 news seems to be the biggest overall market mover.

Insurance
Remember that this month is important for revenue-based insurance averages so it will be important to keep an eye on the markets even if you do not plan on making any sales. As of the close on 2/4 the price for corn is $4.4937 and soybeans are $11.5525.

February USDA Report
Reminder to keep an eye on the USDA report on Tuesday the 9th. This report historically has not contained as many surprises but with the recent Chinese demand we may see another update of the expected ending stocks and exports. We are expecting Tuesday’s report to be a market mover.

Weekly Prices


Via Barchart.com

29 Jan 2021
Agriculture, Corn, Soybeans, USDA Report, Weekly Prices rcmagserv 0 comment

Ag Market Updates: January 17 – 29

Corn gained on the week as it made up for the fall to end last week. Export numbers continued to be strong and Brazil’s harvest has faced delays. A huge corn sale to China announced Tuesday morning was welcome news as well as record ethanol bookings into China through ADM helped.  This looks to continue into the spring as Brazil is struggling with their pace of shipping as well as the harvest delays. US corn is still very competitive pricing on the world stage which is also supportive. This is important because it keeps exports going as demand continues to ramp up around the world as well as when there is a selloff by the funds it is a buying opportunity for other countries. The volatility of the last week has been important to keep an eye on as we have seen some wide ranges traded within one day. As we have seen some big run ups in a day, we have also seen fund selling to bring it back down. As you can see in the chart below the intraday range over the last week has been larger compared to how we got here. As flooding continues to cause harvest delays in Brazil, mostly in beans, this will be important to keep an eye over the next few weeks heading into corn harvest.

Via Barchart

 

Soybeans lost again this week with most of the losses coming from last Friday’s sell off and have seen a good bounce back from the low of $12.98 Monday morning. The flooding in Brazil has caused delays and other issues with bean harvest. Despite large exports the past week the early rallies on Thursday fell through to losses on the day closing below the 20 day moving average. Funds have been selling on the recent rallies which, like today, may continue to be the trend as funds take profit on this impressive run. The outlook has remained bullish as fundamentally the demand is still there and South America’s struggles may continue hurting their yield. Argentina’s crop condition is below 20% good/excellent and last year it was at 70% this time last year to shed some light on how much their crop is struggling. China will need to continue buying any dip down caused by fund selling but if they stop and funds sell the immediate support of sales would disappear. After this run up a pause and drawback may have been needed as we await South America’s harvest but how the month/week ends will be critically important heading into February.

Via Barchart

 

Dow Jones
The Dow lost on the week amongst a lot of volatility (I’m not going to get into the whole GME, AMC, etc drama). Vaccines continue to roll out as states struggle to implement their vaccination strategies while on the federal side the government is trying to get states more so they can ramp up a somewhat dysfunctional rollout. Despite the struggles the good news is we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Many investors are bullish for 2021 as we come out of a year long lockdown while some still think we are due for a correction at some point.

January USDA Report
The RCM Ag team had a roundtable discussion following the January USDA report. Here are the links to view/listen to it on your platform of choice.

 

Weekly Prices

08 Jan 2021
Agriculture, Corn, Cotton, Dow Jones, Market Commentary, Market Updates, Soybeans, U.S. Dollar, Weekly Prices rcmagserv 0 comment

Harvest Market Updates: January 2-8


Corn continues its run up and briefly traded over $5 this week. Corn and beans charts look very similar as you can see below as corn has followed beans. What I mean is bean news moves the markets more so than corn right now as exports for both to China (and others) have been steady for a while now with some surprises from time to time. China announced this week their intention to plant more corn acres this year and expand ethanol production, but with Chinese corn still at around $10 it will be hard for them to make any major waves quickly. With South American weather continuing to be dry in the big picture this should keep SA from producing a huge crop. Old crop corn prices are strong but new crop Dec ’21 continues to lag and will ultimately depend on the South American crop and planted acres before we see any big movement. Keep an eye on the Jan USDA report that comes out the 12th for any change in news.

Via Barchart


Soybeans have had a great last couple months as they continue to run up and get over $13.50. As South America continues their dry outlook into the summer in the southern hemisphere. Argentina has a really good chance for wide sweeping rain next week but returns to dry after that. As South American weather still looks to be problem it will continue to be supportive of beans. With good exports again this week and weather issues in SA the underlying fundamentals remain supportive. Brazil has now started importing soybeans from the US as well as China and will continue to do so until harvest. With this runup we still see down days and even sizeable downward movements, this usually will stem from profit taking until we see fundamentals change. With soybean prices where they are this will lead to farmers switching over some acres which will be an important talking point heading into the spring. We continue the view of selling all of your ’20 crop and not paying for storage to take advantage of these prices. If you do not want to miss out on any further movement higher we suggest at looking at re-ownership on board if it fits your risk level.

Via Barchart


Cotton has seen a nice bump higher as we have gotten into the 80s for several trading days. Cotton may benefit the most from the weaker dollar more so than grains. US cotton is still cheaper than cotton in China (even with cost of delivery) so this should keep the US product competitive and sought after. With the outlook of 2021 moving out of the pandemic with vaccines, demand will rise for all textiles but cotton mills will ramp back up in India and China the most. March cotton chart is below.

Via Barchart


Dow Jones
The Dow has gained over the last few weeks as investors have gotten a better look as to what the next 4 year will look like as both Georgia senate seats went to the Democrats. Many experts think that moderate Dems will be the most important over the next 4 years as they will not vote completely on party lines and prevent any drastic changes. However, it will be important to keep an eye on the markets as we get closer to the Biden administration taking over as investors look to avoid new taxes.

US Dollar
The dollar has continued to stay low and may head lower. This is supportive of US commodities in the world market and would help exports in the big picture.

Via Barchart.com

21 Dec 2020
Agriculture, Corn, Market Commentary, Market Updates, Soybeans, Weekly Prices rcmagserv 0 comment

Ag Market Updates: December 12 – 19

Corn followed beans up this week as exports continue to roll. China continues to be a buyer of US corn and continued La Nina weather in South America are helping pull prices up. Corn will continue to go as soybeans go (as usual) so any positive soybean news is also supportive for corn prices. There continues to be upside in the market as fundamentals continue to bullish with the downside being a change in weather for South America. Corn has been slow and steady and will continue to be with exports being the main news.

Via Barchart

 

Soybeans finally broke through the $12 mark this week as world demand continues to drive prices. China potentially switching bean cargoes from Brazil to the US on shipping delay concerns (Argentina port workers strike) were supportive news as well as continued South American weather concerns. Southern Brazil and Argentina look to be dry into the end of the year while the rest of Brazil will get enough rain to keep it steady. As exports continue to be strong and on the high end of expectations it does not look like bean demand is going anywhere. Bean sales have reached 90% of the annual USDA forecast with 8 ½ months left in the reporting year. Until South American harvest gets rolling US beans look to continue to benefit from the export demand. With the magic $12 threshold being past we could see this run continue.

Via Barchart

 

Dow Jones
The Dow gained on the week as vaccines rolled out across the country while the current COVID wave is seeing new records every day. Congress continues to negotiate a stimulus bill as the year comes to a close. Many investors see 2021 as ripe for growth and still think there is time to get in to take advantage of a post Covid-19 US even if you missed the run up to 30,000 from the March lows.

Crude Oil
Crude Oil has rallied back to pre-lockdown numbers this week as it got back to $49/barrel. As fuel consumption has slowly been growing a second round of lockdowns could lead to over supply problems if drilling is also not cut back.

US Dollar
The US dollar has continued to fall as it is again seeing value not seen sine early 2018. A low USD helps commodity prices and cotton more so than others as we have seen cotton’s recent run up.

Weekly Prices

Via Barchart

11 Dec 2020
Agriculture, Corn, Cotton, Dow Jones, Market Updates, Soybeans, Weekly Prices, Wheat rcmagserv 0 comment

Ag Markets Update: December 5 – 11

Corn was down a little on the week as there was not much news on either side. The USDA report came with a mixed bag of information as corn had minimal loses after it. The US corn stocks came in 11 MBU above estimates, but world numbers came in 12 MBU below making that news mostly a wash. They did not touch many numbers but did raise Chinese imports or corn by 16.5 mmt. Many experts still see 16.5 mmt on the lower end of imports and will probably end up being higher. Corn does not have quite the bullish news behind it of beans, but a sharp up move in beans will bring corn with it. Continue to keep an eye on exports to China and South American weather.

Via Barchart

The USDA report for soybeans came as a mixed bag of news. The US ending stocks came in higher than expected but still lower than the Nov report (190 MBU in Nov vs 175 MBU Thurs vs 168 mil bu expected). Thursday saw a wide range of trading from 18 higher to 8 lower as you can see in the chart below, and settled down a few cents post report. The main focus will now shift to world demand and South American weather as we head towards the end of 2020. In a La Nina year, drought conditions and warm temperatures can cause issues although recently SA weather has gotten some relief. Any surprise sales will be welcome news as well to push prices higher, but if South America has a production problem that will be the biggest market mover going forward until the January USDA report. Many experts are still bullish bean prices heading into 2021. We stand on our suggestion of not storing beans into the 2021 planting season to take advantage of great prices and potentially look at re-ownership strategies if it fits your risk profile as we look ahead to 2021.

Via Barchart

 

Cotton had a good week boosted on Thursday by the USDA report which provided some bullish news for cotton prices. It lowered production by 1.1 million bales (900,000 bales of which came from a reduction in Texas). Mill use was unchanged, but they raised exports 400,000 bales to 15 million as world consumption and US exports rise. Ending stocks were also 1.5 million bales lower to 5.7 million (or 33% of use). The USDA also lowered world ending stocks by 3.9 million bales expecting lower production and higher consumption. The 2.2 million bale decline in global production comes from the US reduction as well as 1 million bale reduction between India and Pakistan. China is also expected to import more cotton than the previous report. All of these are bullish news for cotton as well as continued drought conditions in west Texas that could cause problems come the spring if the conditions continue for too long. Another bullish factor looking to 2021 crop is with bean and corn prices where they are and cotton prices still trailing we could see acres used for cotton switch to beans or corn in areas where the soil allows. There is still a pandemic raging throughout the world with a second wave in full effect so consumption in the near future may be holding cotton prices back.

Via Barchart

 

Wheat had solid gains this week on Wednesday and Thursday after falling the previous trading days. The USDA report provided some bullish news with smaller supplies, higher exports, and lower ending stocks with no change to the domestic use. The 20/21 global wheat outlook is for larger supplies, increased consumption, higher exports, and reduced stocks. This probably comes on the heels of vaccines rolling out hopefully easing lockdowns as life gets back to normal throughout 2021.

Via Barchart

 

Dow Jones
The Dow has traded up and down over the last week making small gains as the market seems to have priced in the COVID vaccine being rolled out in the next week after FDA approval (hopefully) in the coming days. The approval of the vaccine and Operation Warp Speed going into effect could help support this runup of stocks into the new year, however, if Congress can’t get a stimulus bill together, we could see another pullback. There are still many questions about what a Biden presidency will look like for taxes and regulations coming to Wall Street at the start of 2021 as well.

Water Futures
The CME began trading water futures on Monday as yet another way for farmers to hedge their production if they use irrigation. Water will not require any physical delivery like other futures contracts. This will allow farmers to hedge against water scarcity or shortages that could hurt their crop. Read the entire article here.

Weekly Prices

,

Disclaimer

RCM Ag Services is a registered DBA of Reliance Capital Markets II LLC. Trading futures, options on futures, and retail off-exchange foreign currency transactions are complex and involve substantial risk of loss and are not suitable for all investors. Loss-limiting strategies such as stop loss orders may not be effective because market conditions or technological issues may make it impossible to execute such orders. Likewise, strategies using combinations of options and/or futures positions such as “spread” or “straddle” trades may be just as risky as simple long and short positions. There are no guarantees of profit. You should carefully consider whether trading is suitable for you in light of your circumstances, knowledge and financial resources. You may lose all or more than your initial investment. You should not rely on any of the information herein as a substitute for the exercise of your own skill and judgment in making such a decision on the appropriateness of such investments. Opinions, market data and recommendations are subject to change without notice. Reliance Capital Markets II LLC shall not be held responsible for any actions taken based on this website or attached links. Parties acting on this electronic communication are responsible for their own actions. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.