Corn up 12¢ near market open. Tuesday, July 18, 2023

December corn is up 12¢ this morning while November soybeans are up 14¢.

CBOT and KC wheat are up 10¢. Minneapolis wheat is down 3¢.

The Brock Report says “Corn and soybean futures have rallied overnight despite a further rise in U.S. crop condition ratings, as traders are paying more attention to the latest weather forecasts, which have lowered rainfall prospects for the heart of the Corn Belt a bit further.

“Also supportive for corn is the news of a Russian airstrike on Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa. Wheat futures have also been boosted modestly by the news out of Ukraine, rallying as well despite a stronger-than-expected U.S. spring wheat crop rating.”

Arlan Suderman, chief commodity economist for StoneX, says Odesa was one of the perviously approved ports under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which Russia officially pulled out of yesterday.

He adds, the attack was a retaliation response to a recent attack on the Kerch bridge that connects Russia to Crimea and provides “a critical link for providing military resources from Russia to its battles in southern Ukraine via Crimea.”

“As for the initiative, Ukraine is already engaged in talks to reactivate it without Russia’s participation,” Suderman says. “Ukraine is currently waiting to hear from Turkey and the United Nations to see if they will participate as well. Russia is already making comments about security risks of ships moving in and out of the ports so close to a war zone, which appear to be targeted toward scaring shippers from participating. Ukraine has an insurance fund available to supplement coverage costs for shippers if they are willing to take the risk.”

Crude oil is up 93¢.

S&P 500 futures are up 4 points. Dow futures are up 186 points.

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