1. Wheat futures surge in overnight trading
Wheat futures jumped in overnight trade as global buyers began looking for alternative supplies amid continued Russian attacks on Ukraine and extremely dry weather across the US southern plains.
Egypt, the world’s largest importer of wheat, last week added India as a supplier of the grain, an indication the North African country does not depend on grain from Russia or Ukraine, Reuters reported, citing the Ministry of Supply.
Russian missiles reportedly slammed into the western Ukraine city of Lviv, while militants in the port city of Mariupol continued fighting even after a Russian surrender period, according to media reports.
Little to no rain has fallen in parts of the southern U.S. prairie for the past 30 days, according to the National Weather Service’s precipitation page.
Little to no rain has fallen in a large swath of land from southeast South Dakota south through west Texas, the agency said.
About 67% of Kansas, the largest US producer of winter wheat, suffered from drought conditions last week, as did 85% of Oklahoma, according to the US Drought Monitor.
Wheat for May delivery rose 21¼¢ to $11.17¾ a bushel overnight on the Chicago Board of Trade, while Kansas City futures rose 17¢¢ to $11.71¾ a bushel.
Soybean futures for delivery in May were up 9¢¢ at $16.92 a bushel. Soybean meal fell $1.30 to $460.10 a tonne, while soybean oil futures rose 0.97¢ to 79.88¢ a pound.
Corn futures rose 7¼¢ to $7.97½ a bushel.
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2. Speculators increase bullish bets on corn and beans
According to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, investors increased their net-long positions, or bets, on higher prices in corn to the highest level in nearly a month, while increasing bullish bets on beans.
Speculators held 356,877 net corn futures contracts in the seven days ended April 12, the CFTC said in a report.
That’s up from 349,104 contracts a week earlier and the largest such position since the week ended March 15th.
Money managers held 164,649 soybean futures contracts last week, up from 156,811 contracts a week earlier, and the largest bullish position since March 1, the agency said.
In wheat, hedge funds and other major investors held 49,488 net hard red winter futures last week, up from 45,193 contracts a week earlier and the largest bullish position for grain since January 4th.
Investors were also more bullish on soft red winter wheat, holding 17,067 futures contracts, up from 13,953 contracts the previous week, the CFTC said in its report.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly Commitments of Traders report shows traders’ positions in the futures markets.
The report includes positions held by commercial traders or who use futures to hedge their physical assets; non-commercial traders or money managers (also called large speculators); and non-reportables or small speculators.
A net long position indicates that more traders are betting on higher prices, while a net short position means that more bets are on falling futures.
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3. Freeze Warnings in Effect for Portions of Kansas, Missouri, Illinois
Freeze warnings were issued for parts of Kansas, Missouri and Illinois through 9 a.m. today and again overnight through Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
Temperatures in eastern Kansas and western Missouri fell below freezing overnight and are expected to fall as low as 27F. tonight, the NWS said in a report.
A frost warning is in effect in the southern plains as temperatures have dropped overnight.
Temperatures in the Oklahoma Panhandle dropped as low as 34 degrees F., likely leading to some freezing, the agency said.
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