Grain > Commentary > 2-3-2023

2/3/2023

Feb 03, 2023

2/3/2023
A quiet end to the week with some two-sided trade and small ranges. Corn finished 1-2 cents higher after spending most of the session in the red. Soybeans went into the weekend mostly 1-3 cents lower. Price action has been very erratic during the second half of this week and predictability in the markets is almost non-existent. Realistically, fundamentals for corn and soybeans should be pointing us downward with a huge Brazil crop being harvested becoming more and more inevitable each day. Soybean meal front month breached the $500 level today and soy oil fell below $60. This is the first time since June of 2014 the most-active SBM contract traded above $500. Money is citing conditions in Argentina as the reason for piling further into a record long position in meal. The USDA confirmed the sale of 132,000 tonnes of soybeans for delivery to unknown during the 2023/24 marketing year. That makes two consecutive new crop soybean sale announcements this week. The 2022/23 crop export program has enjoyed an extended timeframe but is likely done at this point with importers now turning their attention to South America.

March corn tested trendline resistance a few times this week and resistance held.
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