Markets are giving back a portion of the gains that we saw on Wednesday that were driven by increased U.S. bean export demand and the tightening of U.S. and global wheat balance sheets.

Managed funds on Thursday were estimated as net sellers of 3k corn to push the net short to 213k, net buyers of 2k beans to reduce the net short to 147k, and net sellers of 2k wheat to push the net short out to 40k.

Export sales this morning for wheat came in at 340 tmt (300-600 expected), corn -173 tmt (-100-100 expected), n/c corn 1,823 tmt (700-1,400 expected ), beans -228 tmt (-200-200 expected), n/c beans 1,659 tmt (800-2,000 expected), meal 40.9 tmt (0-100 expected), n/c meal 434.7 tmt (150-550 expected), and oil 5.2 (0-20 expected).

Net cancellations for old crop corn and beans are typical for this time of the marketing year. Very strong new crop corn and bean sales with corn exceeding the top end of expectations by quite a bit.  Everything else was in line with expectations.

Weekly EIA data showed ethanol production for the week down 10k bbls to 1,061k bbls. Stocks were off by a healthy 218k bbls to 23,354k bbls.

French corn ratings were unchanged on the week at 79% g/e. France continues to struggle with their wheat crop with test weights mostly running below market standards.

Russia declared a state of emergency in the Tomsk region of Siberia due to damage from damp, cold weather. Siberia accounts for around 13% of their wheat production. Ukraine’s ag ministry estimated their corn crop at 25mmt (USDA 27.2) and wheat 21.8mmt (USDA 21.6).

Brazilian soybean exports for the month of August came in at 8.041 mmt, which was down from 8.387 mmt LY. Corn exports were 6.063 mmt vs. 9.363 mmt LY. The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange said they expect Argentina’s growing areas to be dry for the next week after much-needed rains fell last weekend.

Corn posted a lower low, lower high, and lower close on Thursday, correcting its overbought condition after hitting resistance in the 4.10-4.20 area. There is support at 4.00.

Beans posted a higher high, higher low, and new high close for the recent move with prices closing higher 5 consecutive days. The market is overbought with prices trading into the 10.20-10.30 resistance area. Support is below the market at 10.00 and 9.80.

Corn took a breather on Thursday as it saw a healthy pull-back after seeing big gains early in the week. The U.S. supply outlook is far from burdensome and the warm finish to the U.S. growing season likely pushed crops to the finish a little faster than ideal. With that said, harvest is quickly approaching and is expected to be somewhat of an upside limiting factor for the next month. Producers should use the recent strength to make sure sales that need to be made at or ahead of harvest are caught up.

Beans put in an impressive performance on Thursday with prices seeing double digit losses overnight and then finishing the day with small gains.  The dryness in Brazil is catching some attention, but their rainy season is just getting started.  With the market trading roughly 60 cents off recent lows and at long-term resistance, producers should make sure sales that need to be made at harvest are caught up.

Corn up 1-3

Beans mixed

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