Wheat Futures Climb on Additional Black Sea Reports -- Daily Grain Highlights
28 December 2023 - 8:41PM
Dow Jones News
By Kirk Maltais
-- Wheat for March delivery rose 1.5% to $6.32 1/2 a bushel on
the Chicago Board of Trade on Thursday in response to news of new
attacks in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
-- Corn for March delivery fell 0.5% to $4.74 1/2 a bushel.
-- Soybeans for March delivery fell 0.7% to $13.12 a bushel.
HIGHLIGHTS
Setting the Pace: CBOT wheat led the grains complex higher
Thursday. Corn and soybeans briefly followed wheat before tailing
off later in the session.
"Wheat is finding at least a bit of support again this morning
on more action in the Black Sea," said Matt Zeller of StoneX in a
note. An attack on a Russian warship by Ukrainian forces, along
with Russia's promises for retaliation, provided wheat with
support.
Awaiting Fate: South American weather remains the key factor in
determining how thin U.S. soybean supplies may be stretched, if at
all.
"It would not take a big increase in export demand to pull the
U.S. carryout down to relatively tight levels, but if the export
demand does not improve, soybean prices are going to continue to
chop," said Tomm Pfitzenmaier of Summit Commodity Brokerage in a
note.
China has been absent from buying large amounts of U.S. soybeans
in recent sessions, which has traders re-evaluating if South
American weather issues will amount to higher U.S. export
demand.
INSIGHT
Nearing a Record: Average daily production of ethanol in the
U.S. tied for the second-highest level ever posted, the EIA said
Thursday.
In its latest weekly report, the EIA said average daily
production through the week ended Dec. 22 landed at 1.107 million
barrels a day. That is only 1,000 barrels a day off from the
all-time record set in December 2017, and ties for the highest
since October 2021.
The average is well above the forecasts of analysts surveyed by
Dow Jones this week, who had forecast production to land between
1.065 million barrels a day and 1.071 million barrels a day. Higher
ethanol production would support higher corn consumption and
prices.
Renewable Fuels Platform: Republican presidential candidate
Nikki Haley has voiced broad support for the U.S. ethanol industry,
confirming support for various topics seen as important to the
industry such as making E15 -- gasoline blended with 15% ethanol --
available year-round instead of only in certain months.
Haley and competitor Ron DeSantis both support a wide breadth of
issues important to U.S. ethanol, such as preserving existing
biofuel tax credits and pushing for higher-percentage ethanol
blends being offered nationally. Other candidates, such as
frontrunner Donald Trump, haven't expressed such wide support for
these issues, said the Iowa Corn Growers Association in a
release.
AHEAD
-- The USDA is scheduled to release its weekly export sales
report at 8:30 a.m. EST Friday.
-- The USDA is due to release its monthly agricultural prices
report at 3 p.m. EST Friday.
-- The CFTC is scheduled to release its weekly Commitments of
Traders Report at 3:30 p.m. EST Friday.
Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 28, 2023 15:26 ET (20:26 GMT)
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