Thursday July 18, 2024

• Feed grains are holding near lows, soybeans still under speculative selling pressure
• November soybean futures continue to carve out lows, now at the lowest for a November contract since 2020
• It seems like grains have settled into a new trading range, waiting for a fresh story
  • The US crop may not be made yet and apart from a few isolated storm hot spots, most of the Corn Belt seems to be on track to a great crop
• Torrential rains have been occurring in China’s Northern Plains since Monday, putting roughly 20% of China’s corn growing territory under stress, more rain in the forecast to finish off the week
• Ethanol crush continues to run ahead of the USDA expected pace and is up 213 mbu from a year ago; Gasoline and ethanol consumption remain at seasonal levels
• CONAB reduced its Brazilian corn production estimate by 1.41 MMT from their last estimate.  This is down a total of 12.2% from the 23/24 crop year.
  • Second crop corn harvest is 2/3 complete