Highlights
ADM’s Joe Mauck’s comments from yesterday afternoon:
"Growing conditions in South America remain neutral, and precipitation is expected to be average to slightly below average for the next couple weeks. Production estimates for both Brazil and Argentina feels optimistic and could increase over the next 2 months. Thinking about planted acres for next year, corn looks a lot better than beans today. Despite the cost to plant corn being higher than beans from a cash-on-hand perspective, corn pencils much better than beans from a production/value outlook and could offer better cash flow opportunities for farmers next fall."
Yesterday afternoon’s weekly Commitment of Traders Report (COT) showed that for the reporting week ending last Tuesday, managed money were net buyers of all the field crops except cotton.
The contract between Russia and Ukraine for the transit of natural gas through Ukraine to Western Europe expires 31 December. Reuters reports it is unknown whether the parties are negotiating an extension of the contract, but Ukraine said it will not renew the deal. That means higher natural gas prices in Europe and, to a lesser extent, for the world. It also means higher nitrogen prices as natural gas is the primary cost to produce nitrogen fertilizer.