Grain markets are mostly lower to close:
Corn – 1 ¾ cents/bu (July @ 3.17 ¾ )
Soybeans – 11 ¾ cents/bu (July @ 8.34 ¼ )
Chi Wheat + 2 ½ cents/bu (July @ 5.16 ¼ )
Cdn $ -0.00290 (71.57 cents)
WTI Crude Oil +.43/barrel (33.92)
Grain markets fell today. Corn remained negative today as no bullish news such as export sales or production failure were announced. Weather continues to be in the forefront for optimism as the Dakotas start to consider prevent planting options, and many areas are getting excessive rainfall. Soybean values were quite low as China and the U.S. increased tensions once again. Many are worried that with trade conflict, the Phase-one deal will not be completed. Wheat fell from the highs yesterday from Russia shrinking its wheat crop, but remained hovering in the positive.
The export sales for the week ended 5/14/2020 that were released this morning. Units are listed below in thousands of tonnes.
| | Actual | Estimates | Last Week | Last Year |
| Corn 19/20 Corn 20/21 | 884.2 -29.3 | 500-1000 200-400 | 1073.2 554.5 | 442.1 183.9 |
| Soybeans 19/20 Soybeans 20/21 | 1205.0 464.0 | 500-1000 300-600 | 655.5 440.0 | 535.8 5.1 |
| Wheat 19/20 Wheat 19/20 | 175.9 252.4 | 100-250 100-400 | 203.5 149.8 | 48.4 344.9 |
Corn performed within estimates for old crop corn, and far behind estimates for new crop due to cancelled contracts. This is off last week’s values, but still good compared to last year. Marketing year corn export sales to date fall short of the seasonal pace needed to hit USDA's target by 44 million bushels, versus being short by 54 million the previous week. The gap is quickly closing. Soybeans performed above average in old crop and within range for new crop. Wheat was within average for both new and old crop.
Funds were thought to be mixed today, buying an estimated 4,000 corn contracts (short 234,000), buying 10,000 soybean contracts (long 21,000) and selling 2,000 Chi. wheat contracts (long 8,000).