Gleadell Daily Grain Comment - 23 October 2017

[ADM Agriculture]

• US markets – soy lower on signs of harvest pressure and better SA weather conditions. Corn lower as yield reports continue to support USDA projections. Wheat lower on a stronger US$, weakness in other markets and general concern over demand for US supplies.
• CFTC reports showed that a/o 17th October managed funds extended their Chicago wheat short by 9963 contracts (now seen 77692 contracts short), and have switched to a short KCBT wheat position (5505 contracts) while continuing to trim long Minneapolis position.
• CFTC reports showed that a/o 17th October managed funds extended their Chicago corn short by 7747 contracts (now seen 170684 contracts short), but extended their long Chicago soybean position by 37176 contracts (now seen 68168 contracts long).
• Private forecaster Informa forecast US 2018 all-wheat acreage at 45.9mln acres (46.0mln t a season ago), corn planted area at 90.5mln acres (90.4mln a year ago), and soybean at 90.3mln acres (90.2mln a year ago) as of last week.
• Argentine farmers are expected to plant 8.92mln ha with corn in the 2017-18 season, reported the Ag Ministry. The government also sees the 2017-18 wheat area at 5.93mln ha, up from a previous estimate of 5.78mln ha.
• Argentine corn planting progress is experiencing significant delays due to water logged fields and is at 27.7% complete vs 34.7% last season, according to BAGE. The exchange also sees a lower planted area vs the government, at 5.4mln ac.
• Ukrainian farmers have sown 5.5mln ha of winter wheat for the 2018 harvest, or 90% of the expected area of 6.15mln ha reported the Ag Ministry. Ukraine plans to sow 7.2mln ha with various winter grains for next year’s harvest.
• French farmers had harvested 56% of the year’s corn crop a/o Oct 16th, up from 28% last week. Sowings of soft wheat for next year’s harvest were 47% a/o Monday 16th, up from 20% a week earlier.

Last Trade Settlement:
London Nov ’17 Settle £139.60/t – up £0.15/t from previous close
Paris Dec ’17 Settle €161.25 – down €0.25/t from previous close
CBOT Dec ’17 Corn Settle $3.4450/bushel – down 4.50 cents/bushel from previous close
CBOT Dec ’17 Wheat Settle $4.2600/bushel – down 6.75 cents/bushel from previous close

Currency Today:
GBP EUR 1.1220
GBP USD 1.3180
EUR GBP 0.8910
EUR USD 1.1745