MarketsFarm – Commodities on the Chicago Board of trade were range-bound and “starving for news” at midweek.
Scott Capinegro of Barrington Commodity Brokers in Illinois noted that the December corn contract started the month at US$3.88 per bushel, and was currently at US$3.8850.
“It went absolutely nowhere,” he said.
Snowstorms in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota have the potential to provide support to wheat markets, but Capinegro doesn’t expect next week’s crop production report and World Agriculture Supply Demand Estimates (WASDE) from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to reflect that loss in production.
Read Also
CBOT Weekly: USDA predicts declines in planting intentions
Declines in projected planting intentions for 2026/27 were not as big as the market expected, after the United States Department of Agriculture released its estimates on March 31. The USDA also issued its quarterly grain stocks report with stocks for soybeans bigger than anticipated, while those for corn were smaller and wheat virtually matched the average trade guess.
“If you’re trying to out-guess [the USDA], then forget it,” he said.
Corn values may also find support from delayed harvest activity and temperatures creeping towards frost. Capinegro noted the possibility of some corn acres remaining in the field over winter.
“That certainly doesn’t add to bushels,” he remarked.
Capinegro expected corn prices to remain trading in a range until South American growing conditions and the USDA report in January provided direction.
“If our corn crop is lower than anybody thought, and South America has growing problems, we’re going to need more than 94 million acres [next year],” he said.
