Grains Under Pressure

Grains were under pressure to start Wednesday with corn and soybeans drifting lower while wheat reversed some of Tuesday’s sharp losses.

On Tuesday after the close, USDA’s crop progress report showed corn plantings at 94% complete versus 86% last week. Also, the first crop condition rating of the season showed the crop at 72% good-to-excellent, which is slightly off the score of 74% last year. Winter wheat conditions inched higher to 63% as compared to 62% last week. Meanwhile, soybean plantings breezed along reaching 73% completed, up from 66% last week.

Overnight export deals were fairly limited. Egypt’s FIHC bought 30,000 MT of soybean oil from ADM while Jordan’s start grain buyer relaunched a failed wheat tender on 100,000 MT. Jordan has failed to make purchases in a series of tenders, with traders citing quality controls and payment terms that have reduced participation.

Monthly USDA soy crushings are expected at 2 PM CDT today. The report is expected to show April soybean crush at 156.8 MB, off from March’s monthly figure of 166.4 MB. The National Oilseed Processors Association, a trade group, estimated that its members crushed 147.6 MB of soybeans in April, down from 156.7 MB during March.

Oil declined for a fourth day on concern recent gains were unsustainable, while shuttered Canadian operations started to reopen.The OPEC meeting on Thursday in Vienna is expected to show a continued policy of squeezing out rivals by maintaining production as the price rally helps justify the group’s strategy. Saudi Arabia will use the meeting to repair relationships with fellow producers after the failure of an April accord to freeze crude output in Doha, according to people familiar the matter. The kingdom’s Minister of Energy Khalid Al-Falih will reassure other members his nation won’t flood the oil market and may be open to the reintroduction of a production target for the group, the people said.

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—Kevin McNew