MarketsFarm – As the United States soybean harvest surpassed 80 per cent complete, trading of the commodity on the Chicago Board of Trade slipped into wintertime mode, according to broker Ryan Ettner of Allendale Inc.
“Switching to wintertime trading means we are going to put more focus on South American weather. And it means we are going to put a little bit more focus on exports,” Ettner explained.
The weather has been a mixed bag for South America, which is currently in spring, the broker commented.
Read Also
U.S. livestock: Feeder cattle extend rally to new highs
Chicago Mercantile Exchange feeder cattle futures extended gains to record highs on Wednesday while live cattle futures set a contract high before pulling back.
“I heard one analyst say Brazil was too wet and an hour later another analyst said Brazil was too dry,” Ettner said.
Report have indicated the country’s north was getting rains, which delayed soybean planting. Meanwhile, southern Brazil, along with much of Argentina and parts of Uruguay were very dry.
Ettner pointed to the 10-day forecast for South America, which as called for moderate rains over Brazil. Despite the dry conditions, Ettner stressed he doesn’t believe that to be a full-blown crisis.
While the U.S. corn harvest has a way to go to hit 80 per cent complete, it has yet to follow soybeans to wintertime trading, he said, also citing a major issue with yields.
“As you talk to people in the west, yields are really bad. If you talk to people in the Midwest…I’ve heard people say there are record yields. That’s quite a toss up of what the national yield will be,” Ettner commented.
Meanwhile, ethanol production has picked up after a number of weeks of coming in below expectations. However, there are still problems with exports.
“As much as the U.S. Department of Agriculture lowered the bar for corn exports, we’re still coming in under that number,” Ettner stated.
