Grain Markets and Other Stuff

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🚢 Export Inspections: Soybean inspections stayed strong at 2.4mmt (90 mil bu), with year-to-date totals running 56% ahead of last year and China taking about 63% of the week’s volume. 📉 Corn rose 39% week-over-week to 884,766mt, while wheat posted an all-time record weekly low of just 75,413mt, down 61% from the prior week.

💰 Flash Sales: Mexico bought 1.7mmt (68 mil bu) of US corn, split between 2026/27 and 2027/28 delivery. 🇨🇳 Exporters also sold 136,000mt (5 mil bu) of soybeans to China for 2026/27 delivery.

🛢️ China’s Soybean Oil Glut: China’s soybean oil stocks climbed to a record near 1.5 million tons as crushing outpaces sluggish demand, pushing exports to more than triple from a year ago. 🤝 China’s lead trade negotiator also met with a US ag delegation Monday, as Chinese purchases of non-soybean US farm goods head toward a seven-year low.

📊 Futures Recap: Jan soybeans dropped roughly 18¢ to $12.17/bu, their lowest close since mid-August, on falling crude, fund liquidation and strong yields. 🌽 Dec corn edged up a penny to $4.48/bu despite harvest pressure, and wheat closed slightly higher as Russia-Ukraine attacks dimmed hopes for a Black Sea shipping deal.

🚜 Harvest Progress: Corn harvest jumped to 74% complete, just behind the 77% average, with delays persisting in South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa. 🌱 Soybeans reached 88% done (ahead of the 84% average), while winter wheat planting hit 83%, short of the 86% traders expected.

🇧🇷 Brazil Planting: AgRural says Brazil’s soybean crop is 53% planted, ahead of last year’s 47% despite wet conditions in the south and dryness in the north. 🌽 Brazil’s first corn crop is 63% planted, also ahead of last year’s 59% pace.

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📊 Fund Positioning: Large money managers were net sellers of 83k corn contracts for the week ending October 27, bringing their total reduction since the mid-September peak to 333k contracts. Funds also sold 28k soybean contracts and 23k SRW wheat contracts.

🌽 Weekly Grain Recap: Dec26 corn fell nearly 4 cents to about $4.48, its fifth straight weekly loss, on fund liquidation and harvest progress. Jan27 soybeans slipped to about $12.34, the lowest close since mid-August, while wheat posted a ninth consecutive weekly loss on expectations of more Russian exports. 📉

🇺🇦 Ukraine-Russia & Black Sea: Ukraine ended a two-week pause and struck a refinery in Russia’s Samara region, despite pressure from the Trump administration to stop. The escalation follows Russia issuing permits for grain vessels to leave the Sea of Azov, and Secretary of State Rubio cited “growing interest” in a partial Black Sea ceasefire. 🚢

🛢️ Crude Oil: Dec26 WTI dropped below $100/bbl overnight after peaking near $105 Friday, as Iranian and Qatari officials held talks in Doha on ending the US-Iran war. Some analysts still see upside risk, with Goldman Sachs projecting Brent could reach $140 in 2027 if Gulf output stays well below 2025 levels. ⛽

🫘 Soybean Flash Sale: USDA reported a flash sale of 297,150 mt (11 million bushels) of soybeans to unknown destinations for 2026/27 delivery. Accumulated soybean sales are running 80% ahead of the same period last year. 📈

💻 Binance Hack: Binance resumed withdrawals Sunday after a record $6.3 billion theft blamed on a North Korean state-sponsored hacking group. The exchange says about 90% of the stolen assets have been replenished, but the incident sparked heavy withdrawals and a broader crypto sell-off. 🔐

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🌾 China Eyes US Wheat: State-owned grain trader Cofco has inquired about buying US soft red winter wheat for delivery next year, following the September Trump–Xi tariff agreement. China has bought more than half of its 25mmt soybean pledge but still hasn’t purchased any US corn or wheat this marketing year, and its own wheat supplies remain ample after another bumper harvest.

🚜 Ag Industry Headwinds: AGCO cut its annual sales outlook, with its CEO saying global farm machinery demand is at its weakest in more than a decade, though the company sees a possible recovery in 2027. Bunge held its earnings guidance but expects lower soybean crush profits, while proposed increases in biofuel blending requirements offer a potential bright spot for corn and soybean demand.

📈 Strong Export Sales: Net soybean sales hit 2.6mmt (95 mil bu) for the week ending October 22, with China the top buyer, and corn sales came in at 1.3mmt (51 mil bu), led by Mexico. Wheat finally had a strong week at 849,800mt (31 mil bu), beating expectations, with the Philippines as the largest buyer.

☀️ Drought Update: Warm, dry weather worsened drought across parts of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Missouri, though it kept harvest moving at a good pace. Scattered rain improved conditions in parts of Nebraska, South Dakota, and Oklahoma, while 50% of winter wheat areas are still in drought.

🤖 AI and Crop Insurance: A new private insurance product will use AI to assess field-level risk, potentially saving corn and soybean farmers $10–$15 per acre on supplemental coverage. Launching in 15 Corn Belt states next year, it could lift total coverage up to 90% and may reward conservation practices like no-till and cover crops.

🛒 USDA $472.5M Purchase: The USDA plans to buy $472.5 million in US farm goods, from lentils and almonds to pork and dairy, for charitable food networks and nutrition programs. Secretary Brooke Rollins framed the move as part of the administration’s effort to put farmers first and advance its Make America Healthy Again agenda.

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🌽 New Ethanol Plant for North Dakota: RoughRider Energy plans a facility near Glen Ullin that would use 84 million bushels of corn a year to produce 240 million gallons of ethanol, starting in 2029. 🏭 CO2 from the plant would be piped to a Summit Carbon storage site about 15 miles north, while Gevo has proposed a separate 75-million-gallon plant near Richardton.

📉 Soybeans Slide, Corn Edges Up: January soybeans fell 5 cents to $12.38 on fund liquidation and worries that resumed Black Sea shipments could cut into US export demand. 🌾 Dec corn gained 3 cents to about $4.52 on bargain buying, while wheat posted its ninth loss in 10 sessions.

🚢 Sea of Azov Reopens to Grain Ships: Russia has issued permits letting grain vessels leave the Sea of Azov through November 15, after traffic was halted on July 10 by Ukrainian drone attacks. ⚠️ With no ceasefire in place, some ships are expected to travel under Russian naval escort.

🏦 Fed Holds Rates Steady: The Federal Reserve voted 10-2 to keep its benchmark rate at 3.75% to 4% as inflation rose to 3.7% in September. 📊 Fed Chair Kevin Warsh gave no clear signal for December, and traders still expect a hike next month but fewer increases in 2027.

🇺🇸 Soybean Flash Sale: USDA reported a sale of 120,000 metric tons (4 million bushels) of soybeans to unknown destinations for the 2026/27 marketing year. 🚀 Total US soybean export sales are running 81% ahead of last year’s pace.

⛽ Ethanol Output Hits 13-Week High: US ethanol production climbed to 1.12 million barrels per day, up 2.2% from the prior week, with stocks nearly steady at 24.52 million barrels. 💰 Corn Belt ethanol margins strengthened to between 25 and 65 cents per gallon positive.

🎲 Kalshi Weighs New Safeguards: CEO Tarek Mansour says the prediction market is exploring ways to protect users from losses and is open to raising the minimum age from 18 to 21. 🔒 The company has already set a $2,500 monthly deposit limit for users under 21 and will place them in special accounts that discourage risky behavior.

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🌽 Corn and soybean futures extended their losses Tuesday, with Dec26 corn down ~6 cents to near $4.59/bu and Jan27 soybeans off nearly 10 cents to $12.43/bu. 📉 A sharp drop in the Brazilian real after Lula’s reelection, a fast-moving harvest, and fund liquidation all weighed on prices.

🌾 Wheat futures kept sliding on currency headwinds and optimism that a Russia-Ukraine peace deal could normalize Black Sea trade flows. 🕊️ Dec26 SRW wheat fell ~6 cents to near $6.10/bu, while Dec26 HRW dropped ~9 cents to around $6.51/bu.

🏦 The Fed is widely expected to hold rates steady this week, with markets pricing in a ~90% chance of a pause per CME’s FedWatch tool. 🔥 But with September inflation at 3.7%, traders see an ~80% chance of a quarter-point hike in December and possibly more in 2027.

🌱 Syngenta is targeting a Hong Kong IPO as early as January 2027 at a valuation of at least $66 billion, potentially raising $5-10 billion. 💰 The Sinochem-controlled company plans to sell a 10-20% stake to cut debt and invest in seeds and crop protection.

🪙 Amundi expects gold to rebound to around $4,500/oz after a selloff pushed prices below $4,000, their lowest since mid-July. 📊 Central bank buying and safe-haven demand could support a recovery, though the firm doubts gold will hit $5,000 by year-end.

🌦️ A strong El Niño could cut Brazil’s soybean crop to 163.6mmt versus 181.2mmt under neutral conditions, according to Serasa Experian, with most losses in the west-central region. 🇧🇷 Meanwhile, Brazilian soybean planting reached 40% complete, ahead of last year’s 36% pace.