CORN PLUNGES, BEANS HIGHER OVERNIGHT; GRAIN EXPORT INSPECTIONS HIGHER WEEK TO WEEK.
Corn was down sharply overnight, while soybeans were higher after yesterday’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) Report.
Acres planted with corn for the 2019-2020 marketing year was pegged at 90 million by the USDA, topping expectations compiled by Reuters for 88 million.
Yield was seen at 169.5 bushels an acre, ahead of forecasts for 164.9 bushels, and production was projected at 13.9 billion bushels, well above forecasts for 13.2 billion.
Soybean futures rose as planted area is expected to be around 76.7 million acres, the government said, down from analyst forecasts for 81 million. Yield is pegged at 48.5 bushels an acre, up from expectations for 47.6 bushels. Final production is seen at 3.68 billion bushels, trailing forecasts for 3.8 billion.
Corn stockpiles are seen at 2.18 billion bushels, well ahead of forecasts for 1.62 billion, while soybean inventories were projected by the USDA at 755 million bushels, behind expectations for 821 million.
The USDA Crop Progress Report showed corn conditions unchanged at 57% good or excellent, while 54% of soybeans earned top ratings, also unchanged week to week.
Corn futures for December delivery plunged 10¾¢ to $3.82 a bushel overnight on the Chicago Board of Trade.
Soybean futures for November delivery gained 6¾¢ to $8.86 a bushel overnight. Soy meal rose $2.10 to $300.80 a short ton, while soybean oil dropped 0.04¢ to 30.01¢ a pound.
Wheat for September delivery fell 1½¢ to $4.70¼ a bushel, while Kansas City futures lost 1¾¢ to $3.90½ a bushel.
2. WEEKLY CORN, WHEAT INSPECTIONS FOR OVERSEAS DELIVERY RISE WHILE SOYBEANS DECLINE
Inspections of corn and wheat for overseas delivery rose week to week, while soybean assessments decline, according to the USDA.
Corn inspections in the seven days that ended on August 8 jumped to 703,183 metric tons, up from 645,675 tons the previous week, but were still down from the 1.27 million tons examined at the same point a year earlier, the government said.
Wheat assessments surged to 688,978 metric tons last week, up from 416,177 tons the previous week. The total also was up from the 487,399 tons examined during the same week in 2018.
Soybean inspections, meanwhile, dropped to 944,238 metric tons from 1.03 million tons a week earlier, the USDA said. Still, that was well above the 581,559 tons assessed during the same period the previous year.
Since the start of the marketing year on September 1, the government has inspected 45.6 million metric tons of corn for overseas delivery, down from 54 million tons at the same time a year earlier.
Soybean inspections since the start of September now stand at 42.3 million tons, well below the 54 million tons examined at this point in 2018.
Since the start of the grain’s marketing year on June 1, wheat inspections totaled 4.93 million metric tons, ahead of the year-earlier total of 3.87 million tons, the USDA said.
3. HEAT WAVE MOVING EAST, NOW OVER MUCH OF ARKANSAS WITH INDEXES OF 116˚F.
The heat wave that was blasting much of eastern Kansas and western Missouri has moved east slightly and is now parked over much of Arkansas, parts of the Missouri bootheel, and the Gulf Coast.
A slice of southeastern Oklahoma is still under heat advisories as indexes are expected to reach 112˚F. in the area, according to the National Weather Service.
Excessive heat warnings are in effect for a large chunk of Arkansas and northern Louisiana into Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama, the agency said.
In northern Arkansas, the heat indexes are expected to hit as high as 116˚F. today.
