Corn down 4¢ this morning. Tuesday, May 14, 2024

July corn is down 4¢ this morning.

July soybeans are down 11¾¢.

CBOT wheat is down 11½¢. KC wheat is down 11¢. Minneapolis wheat is down 6¼¢.

Earlier this morning, USDA announced Mexico is buying 405,000 metric tons of corn, 135,000 metric tons for the 2023/2024 marketing year and 270,000 metric tons for the 2024/2025 marketing year. Karl Setzer, partner at Consus Ag Consulting, says this split order has a limited impact on corn futures.

“Futures started day trade narrowly mixed with moderate losses in soybeans and wheat and mixed futures in corn,” says Setzer. “All interest leading into the day’s trade was on yesterday’s crop progress report that showed corn seeding is now below the five-year average, but this was mostly expected. Corn is also half planted by the middle of May which is what is viewed as a definite line in the sand on yields…. Trade also generally accepts the belief that planting runs ahead of weekly data.

“Soybean planting is ahead of normal and a non-factor. Soybeans are seeing pressure from conflicting stories on used cooking oil [UCO] imports from China. Yesterday it was reported that the U.S. was going to impose strict tariffs on UCO imports from China, and this caused the spike in both soybean and soy oil futures. The White House is denying these reports, and futures are correcting.

“Conab was out with higher Brazilian corn and soybean crop estimates this morning which is also negative. Wheat is seeing additional pressure from thoughts Russian crop loss may not be as great as reported, including from the Russian government.”

Live cattle are up $2.08. Feeder cattle are up $2.85. Lean hogs are up 83¢.

Crude oil is down $1.05.

The U.S. Dollar Index June contract is down to 104.85.

S&P 500 futures are up 4 points. Dow futures are up 15 points.

Setzer says traders are paying attention to outside market activity today.

“One outside influence is the Producer Price Index [PPI] for April that showed inflation is still elevated in the United States,” he says. “The PPI reading for April was up 0.5% from March, above street estimates for a 0.3% increase. The PPI is also up 2.2% from last April. Core PPI, which omits food and energy costs, is up 3.1% on the year after falling to 2.5% last fall. This gives the market an indication that consumer spending remains high, and further dampens chances of interest rate cuts. Tomorrow the Consumer Price Index will be released and is another inflation indicator.

“In addition to this, we are once again seeing buying in ‘meme stocks’ in the equities. One of the leaders in this is again Game Stop where shares have posted gains of more than 120% today. Other stocks of this nature are up anywhere from 105% to 150% this morning. This is once again drawing buyer interest away from all commodities.”

Tags: futures, live cattle, feeder cattle, lean hogs, corn, soybeans, wheat