MarketsFarm – Commodities on the Chicago Board of trade were range-bound and “starving for news” at midweek.
Scott Capinegro of Barrington Commodity Brokers in Illinois noted that the December corn contract started the month at US$3.88 per bushel, and was currently at US$3.8850.
“It went absolutely nowhere,” he said.
Snowstorms in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota have the potential to provide support to wheat markets, but Capinegro doesn’t expect next week’s crop production report and World Agriculture Supply Demand Estimates (WASDE) from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to reflect that loss in production.
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As spring planting approaches, farmers are busy planning which crops to seed this year and how much. With that, market thoughts have turned toward planted area projections, as Statistics Canada is set to issue its report on Thursday.
“If you’re trying to out-guess [the USDA], then forget it,” he said.
Corn values may also find support from delayed harvest activity and temperatures creeping towards frost. Capinegro noted the possibility of some corn acres remaining in the field over winter.
“That certainly doesn’t add to bushels,” he remarked.
Capinegro expected corn prices to remain trading in a range until South American growing conditions and the USDA report in January provided direction.
“If our corn crop is lower than anybody thought, and South America has growing problems, we’re going to need more than 94 million acres [next year],” he said.
