CBOT May 2023 corn with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Chicago corn, wheat reverse gains to close lower

Export sales of wheat, soybeans fall below forecasts

Mexico City | Reuters — Chicago corn futures reversed session gains to close lower Thursday, with the most-active contract hitting its highest price since February on a boost from Chinese demand. Wheat futures also closed lower in rangebound trade after earlier gains, pressured by disappointing export data and inter-market spreading against K.C. wheat futures, traders […] Read more

CME April 2023 lean hogs with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME hogs slide to new contract lows, finish mixed

April live cattle down, feeders up

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures crumbled to new life-of-contract lows on Thursday, before finishing mixed, on concerns about poor demand for U.S. pork, analysts said. The market has tanked since last week, with additional pressure stemming from weak cash prices and larger-than-expected supplies of hogs. The front-month contract is down […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

AAFC supply/demand estimates mostly unchanged

Wheat exports up, but domestic usage cut

MarketsFarm –– Supply/demand estimates for Canadian crops were largely left unchanged in Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s (AAFC) latest projections, with only the wheat numbers seeing small adjustments in the report released Tuesday. Projected Canadian wheat exports for the 2022-23 marketing year were raised to 24.3 million tonnes, up by 200,000 from the February estimate. Domestic […] Read more

CME June 2023 lean hogs with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME hogs fall to contract lows on demand worries

April cattle also down on day

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures tumbled to contract lows again on Wednesday on concerns about lower demand, analysts said. Worries about the risk for a recession to reduce consumers’ meat purchases hung over livestock markets, particularly for expensive cuts, said Arlan Suderman, chief commodities economist for broker StoneX. Wheat and […] Read more


CBOT May 2023 corn with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Chicago corn turns higher

CBOT soy, wheat fall on long liquidation

Mexico City | Reuters — Chicago corn futures turned higher Wednesday, and wheat and soy closed down, as technical trading and investor unease about the economy roiled agricultural commodity markets. Investors scrambled to liquidate long positions, traders said, even before the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point and indicated […] Read more

Commercial vessels  –including vessels which are part of the Black Sea grain deal — wait to pass the Bosphorus strait off the shores of Yenikapi during a misty morning in Istanbul, Turkey on Oct. 31, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Umit Bektas)

U.S. pushes back against Russian demands linked to Ukraine grain deal

Russian food, fertilizer already carved out from sanctions, U.S. says

United Nations | Reuters — The United States pushed back on Russian demands that Western sanctions be eased before it allows Ukrainian Black Sea grain exports beyond mid-May, saying there were no restrictions on Russian agricultural products or fertilizer. Moscow’s demands include allowing the Russian Agricultural Bank to return to the SWIFT banking system and […] Read more


File photo of fresh palm fruits and palm oil. (Slpu9945/iStock/Getty Images)

USDA’s Indonesia desk predicts increased palm oil production

An El Nino event could weigh on that outlook

MarketsFarm — Indonesia, the world’s largest producer of palm oil, is forecast to see a three per cent rise in production in 2023-24, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service post in Jakarta. The country’s USDA post anticipates 46 million tonnes of palm oil production, which would be up from 44.7 during […] Read more

Chickpeas. (Grigorenko/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

Pulse weekly outlook: Steady world trade expected in 2023

IGC sees firmer demand for dry peas in particular

MarketsFarm — World trade in chickpeas and lentils is expected to remain relatively steady in 2023, with solid demand from South Asia underpinning markets, according to the latest outlook from the International Grains Council. The IGC sees the world trade in chickpeas in 2023 at about 1.9 million tonnes, which would be unchanged from 2022, […] Read more


CBOT May 2023 soybeans with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Chicago soy closes lower

Brazil production, Fed in focus for soy; wheat, corn still capped by Black Sea deal extension

Reuters — Chicago soy futures reversed gains to close lower on Tuesday, pushed down by rising estimates of Brazilian production, while corn and wheat dipped as markets kept a cautious eye on an expected Federal Reserve rate hike. Wheat and corn continue to be capped by the extension of a Black Sea export corridor from […] Read more

CME April 2023 lean hogs with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME lean hogs hit contract lows on follow-through selling

Cattle futures edge upward

Chicago | Reuters –– Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures dropped to contract lows on Tuesday on follow-through and technical selling after recent slides, traders said. Front-month April lean hogs settled down 0.725 cent at 77.05 cents/lb. after hitting a contract low at 77 cents (all figures US$). The contract has lost 12 per cent […] Read more