CNS Canada — Two much anticipated reports from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) sent markets soaring and left traders speechless in the last trading day before the Easter holiday.
USDA released its quarterly grain stocks and prospective plantings reports Thursday at 11 a.m. CT. Traders had been expecting corn area to be at 80.3 million acres and soybeans at 90.9 million. Instead USDA set corn at 88 million acres and soybeans at 89 million.
“The question is with all wheat and cotton (plantings) only up 2.2 million acres, where’s all this acreage? So that’s going to be a question people will be thinking this long weekend,” said Scott Capinegro at Highland Trading.
Read Also
Alberta crop conditions improve: report
Varied precipitation and warm temperatures were generally beneficial for crop development across Alberta during the week ended July 8, according to the latest provincial crop report released July 11.
Corn, soybean and wheat stocks were increased, which was bearish for the market, according to Capinegro. Corn stocks as of March 1 were at 8.89 billion bushels, soybean stocks at 2.11 billion bushels and wheat stocks at 1.49 billion bushels.
Chicago Board of Trade markets rose when the reports were released. The May soybean contract jumped roughly 35 cents per bushel, while May corn and May wheat each rose 11 cents (all figures US$).
“There was some gaps in corn that needed to be filled, they were filled today. We’ll see if we close over them. We’re trading about two, two and a half cents above it right now,” Capinegro said.
When all was said and done the markets posted solid gains on the day. May soybeans closed at $4.5175 per bushel, corn at $3.8775 per bushel and wheat at $10.4425 per bushel.
With the USDA reports released, attention will now shift to weather on the U.S. Plains. There has been some wetness in the Mississippi Delta region, with forecasts calling for a cooler, wet April.
Weather will “start to take attention probably the next 10, 12 days when we get the first week of April out of the way. That’s about it,” Capinegro said.
— Ashley Robinson writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Glacier FarmMedia company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting.
