3/4/2024

Resistance held on corn's first test of the 20-day moving average but we still end Monday with small gains in corn and soybeans.  Soybeans made a lateral jump across their 10-day moving average and held in the green to finish 3-6 cents higher.  Higher closes of any kind are nice to see but it was tough to get excited when soybeans easily fell back off of double-digit higher trade.  Market sentiment for corn is shifting.  For the past 3 months, the easy position to take was going short but now most are viewing that as the higher risk position.  Also, funds were net buyers of corn last week.  If we are able to manufacture a bounce, corn near 450'0 on the May contract looks like a solid target.  The USDA confirmed two sales this morning: 110,000 tonnes of corn to Taiwan for delivery in 2023/24 and 126,000 tonnes of soymeal to unknown split between 2023/24 and 2024/25.  Export inspections for soybeans were above average last week, totaling 1.021 mln tonnes.  This was a nice bump in the total shipment pace for soybeans which now stands at a 4-million-bushel deficit versus 17 million last week.  Corn shipments were reported at 1.084 mln tonnes.  Corn shipment pace remained unchanged at a 27-million-bushel surplus.