Highlights
July CBOT options expire today. The day before and the day options expire are usually down days for CBOT futures.
President Biden at a west coast fundraiser called China’s President Xi a "dictator" Wednesday evening. Xi was not pleased one bit and he let the US Ambassador know that Biden’s comment was "political provocation." In hindsight, that added pressure to the soybeans yesterday on top of the biodiesel blending disappointment. Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen has launched a “damage control” campaign, which is not going well. The good news is, soybean oil had a blow off-bottom yesterday and settled higher on Thursday. Soybeans settled way above their low for the day, but still down sharply.
Weekly ethanol production was the third largest of the marketing year and the most since early December. See details below.
The Chicago July wheat contract settled at a four-month high yesterday. The market is beginning to believe Russia really will cancel the Ukraine Grain Corridor deal. Also, the wheat crop in India is getting smaller everyday and their government is taking action to halt wheat exports. Argentina’s wheat plantings estimate was reduced by almost a half million acres (200,000 hectares) and unusually high temperatures in Europe and Asia are serving a beating to wheat and rice crops.
Yesterday’s mid-day weather model run shifted the showers north from Nebraska into southern Minnesota. The National Weather Service 8 to 14 day forecast has a better chance for showers for everybody except Wisconsin, Eastern Minnesota and Iowa and Northwest Illinois.