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The Leonard Lumber Report: The Three “C’s” of the Industry

Introducing the Three "C's" of the Industry:  The best way to recap the market is to look at its tone. To sum it up, we will introduce the 3 "C's" or confusion, congestion, and consternation. We've heard repeatedly, "how could this have happened so fast?" The trade was not looking for an early start to the yearend run. It also believed that there was enough supply. That proved to be incorrect. Most of the supply issues are related to the congestion at transportation points caused by COVID and weather. Things are fluid but at a pace that allows shipping to ...

AG MARKET UPDATE: DECEMBER 9

This week, corn had a good rally following a couple of big down days last week. The December USDA report was released on Thursday with minimal changes and differences between the numbers and pre-report estimates. World stocks were slightly higher than pre-report estimates  at 305.45 million metric tons (304.47 MMT estimate) and marginally higher US stocks. The USDA did not make any adjustments to the South American crop estimates as they remain patient; we should expect next month to see a change. Continue to keep an eye on SA weather as any continued problems could play out in the market ...

AG MARKET UPDATE: NOVEMBER 18 – DECEMBER 2

Volatility was the name of the game this week as every market experienced it from, grains to equities. Corn partook in the excitement, as you can see from the chart below. Important to note is following the small rally in the past couple of days to get back to the levels we saw before Thanksgiving. Wheat was a big winner Thursday and pulled corn with it on the intensifying issues with Russia and Ukraine. If wheat rallies, expect it to pull corn with it even on limited corn news. The La Nina pattern continues to form in South America as ...

THE LEONARD LUMBER REPORT: Futures Were Off $35.70 for the Week

Futures Were Off $35.70 for the Week The weeks are starting to look the same. Each one has numerous undefined potential threats. Unlike most commodities, this industry has so many working parts that it is hard to rank them from least to most. Let's look at a few.  The futures market continues to act top heavy every time it breaks through the $800 mark. A combination of speculative profit-taking and basis trades weigh on the run. Most of last week saw a positive market as the BC shipping issues grew. But the COVID talk on Friday changed the focus from ...

AG MARKET UPDATE: NOVEMBER 9 – 18

Corn has seen a good bounce since the Nov 9 USDA report and has traded relatively flat the past few days despite some intraday volatility. There was no specific market-moving news to  fuel this rally but tidbits here and there to help fuel  overall positive  sentiment. IHS Markit updated their acreage for 2022 planted acres estimate with corn coming in at 90.8 million acres, 2.5 million lower than 2020. Ethanol production stays hot as the weekly grind rose to 312 mbu, up 7 from the previous week and well ahead of the USDA estimate for the year. With increased input ...