Corn and Soybean Market Weekly Recap

Apr 29, 2022

Corn posting solid gains this week. July corn closed today at 8.13 ½ for a gain of 19 ¾ for the week. New crop corn closed at 751 ¼ for a 24 ½ gain on the week. After China announced they were done with buying U.S. corn, they stepped in and bought 42.8 million bushels on Thursday. China’s purchase was split between old and new crop with 18.7 million bushels for 21/22 and 24.1 million bushels for 22/23. Export sales report showed 2.264 billion bushels of total corn sales for the 21/22 crop year. USDA estimated corn exports at 2.500 billion bushels for the 21/22 crop year, leaving just 236 million bushels left to sell with 17 weeks left in the marketing year. Last weeks sales totaled 34.1 million bushels much higher than the 13.1 million bushels needed to meet USDA estimates.

Soybeans struggling this week with the July contract ending the week at 16.84 ¾ for a loss of 2 ¼. New crop soybeans were a little stronger ending the week at 15.14 ¾ for a gain of just under 10 cents for the week. Soybeans did have a strong week for export sales, especially to China. China purchased 31.7 million bushels of soybeans for the 22/23 crop year, showing strong demand for soybeans despite the Covid lock downs they have been facing over the past month.

Chicago Wheat down 26 cents this week closing at the lowest price of the week. India has been helping cover some of the wheat shortage, selling over 294 million bushels of wheat this year. This is up from 91.8 million bushels of sales last year and up from the 18.3 million bushels they sold in 2019. India’s wheat stockpiles have been growing in recent years and they are using this opportunity of higher prices to trim their supply.

Much of the corn belt saw cooler temps and plenty of moisture this week. The cool/damp weather continues to slow corn harvest in many states, but we did see some spotty planting in areas that received less rain. Some hard red wheat areas did get some rain this week but not enough to pull them out of drought conditions. Argentina missed most of the rain this week as they continue to harvest corn and soybeans. Central Brazil where most of the second corn crop is grown remained dry for most of the week. Total rain fall between April 1st and May 10th is estimated to be less than just 2 inches. This is a critical time for the second corn crop as it nears pollination. Production estimates are starting to fall with private analysts estimating 102-108 million tons vs USDA’s estimate of 116 million tons.