DTN Closing Grain Comments

General Comments:

Corn was down 2 1/2 cents in the May contract and down 2 1/2 cents in the December. Soybeans were down 1 3/4 cents in the May contract and up 1/2 cent in the November. Wheat closed down 4 1/4 cents in the May Chicago contract, down 5 3/4 cents in the May Kansas City and down 1/2 cent in the May Minneapolis contract.

The June U.S. dollar index is down 0.17 at 99.44. April gold is up $4.20 at $1,250.70 while May silver is up 1 cent and May copper is up $0.0175. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 37 at 20,631. May crude oil is down 0.21 at $48.03. May heating oil is down $0.0062 while May RBOB gasoline is down $0.0029, and May natural gas is down $0.077.

Corn:

May corn was down 2 1/2 cents, posting its lowest close in 2017 with some commercial selling and more noncommercial liquidation likely. Market weather factors remain bearish for corn Wednesday with light-to-moderate showers expected across Brazil and rain expected to help some of the drier areas here in the U.S. this week. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said ethanol production slipped from 1.045 to 1.044 million barrels a day last week while inventory fell from 22.8 to 22.6 million barrels -- another bullish vote for U.S. corn demand while we wait to learn more about Brazil's potential record crop. Here in March, May corn remains in an active downtrend with no sign of support yet. DTN's National Corn Index closed at $3.21 Tuesday, priced 40 cents below the May contract and near its lowest price in 11 weeks. In outside markets, the June U.S. dollar index is down 0.17 and May crude oil is down 21 cents after the Energy Department said U.S. oil inventory was up 5.0 million barrels last week to a record high 533.1 million barrels.

Soybeans:

May soybeans closed down 1 3/4 cents, still within last week's trading range as prices continue to suffer under the weight of Brazil's record harvest, finding no immediate bullish arguments to motivate buyers. Brazil's harvest should be roughly two-thirds done by now and this week's DTN forecast for the U.S. expects beneficial rains to help recharge some of the drier areas in the south-central U.S. Demand for U.S. soybeans remains active and USDA's attache estimated China's soybean imports Wednesday at 89.0 million metric tons for 2017-18, up from 86.0 mmt in 2016-17. USDA also said Wednesday 4.4 million bushels (120,000 metric tons) of U.S. soybeans were sold to China for 2017-18. Right now however, that demand is just serving to slow the downward slide in prices as May soybeans continue to trend lower. DTN's National Soybean Index closed at $9.24 Tuesday, priced 78 cents below the May contract and near its lowest price in four months.

Wheat:

May Chicago wheat ended down 4 1/4 cents at its lowest close in 11 weeks as rain in this week's forecast continues to scare buyers away from this already over-supplied market. The heaviest rain amounts the next seven days appear to be targeted over Arkansas and surrounding areas. It is not clear how much of that will be shared with the southwestern Plains, but wheat prices are in no position to argue this week. U.S. wheat exports are below USDA's estimated pace but got some help from Wednesday's news that 4.4 mb (120,000 mt) of U.S. hard red winter wheat were sold to Saudi Arabia for 2016-17. Tuesday afternoon's International Crop Summary from USDA showed no areas of significant concern yet in 2017. Until that changes, it will be difficult for May Chicago wheat to shake its downtrend. DTN's National SRW index closed at $3.84 Tuesday, priced 43 cents below the May contract and near its lowest close in five weeks. DTN's National HRW index closed at $3.46 and near its lowest price in five weeks.

Todd Hultman can be reached at todd.hultman@dtn.com

Follow Todd Hultman on Twitter @ToddHultman1

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