After the Bell | July 14, 2021
Corn: The July 2021 corn contract expired at $6.83, up 6 cents from Tuesday, while new-crop December posted an 18-cent rally to $5.58 3/4. The latest weather developments, which are expected to bring significant rainfall to the Corn Belt, including some dry northwestern areas, over the next few days might easily be seen as negative for corn price prospects. That’s particularly true since it looks as if the crop will emerge from its critical pollination period relatively unscathed. Nevertheless, corn futures registered solid gains for a third consecutive trading session.
Soybeans: Soybean futures finished high-range with gains of 30-plus cents in the August through January contracts. Soymeal futures strengthened roughly $11 to $12, while soyoil firmed 27 to 68 points through the December contract. Soybeans rallied sharply, despite a broad band of rains that pushed across dry areas of the northern Corn Belt. Instead, traders focused on forecasts calling for a return of hotter and drier weather in the two-week outlook. World Weather Inc. expects temps to reach into the 90s and possibly over 100 degrees next week and the following weekend. While the critical development timeframe for soybeans isn’t until August, hot and dry conditions the second half of this month would leave the crop in northern areas needing timely rains.
Wheat: Wheat futures were led higher by 19- to 20-cent gains in the most actively traded SRW contracts. HRW futures firmed mostly 15 to 16 cents. Spring wheat futures strengthened 11 to 14 cents. The winter wheat markets took on more of a leadership role today while spring wheat played more of a secondary role, suggesting much of the strength was tied to spillover from gains in the other markets and broad speculative buying. Given that spring wheat futures have done most of the heavy lifting in the wheat complex of late, today’s price action could bode well for additional gains.
Cotton: The lightly traded October contract climbed 180 points 90.57 cents on Wednesday, while the most-active December contract surged 135 points to 89.81 cents. The latest indications point to increased new-crop supplies of U.S. cotton, as best indicated by Monday’s USDA supply and demand report boosting projected harvested acreage and production by 870,000 acres and 800,000 bales, respectively. And yet, cotton futures have posted an impressive rally so far this week. The December future jumped to a fresh contract high at 89.91 cents today. And while it set back somewhat at the settlement, the contract remained well above its old high at 89.28 cents.
Hogs: August lean hogs closed down $0.825 at $105.10 today. Prices closed near the session low today. July hog futures rose $0.125 today to $112.375. Lean hog futures today saw some profit taking from the shorter-term futures traders after August futures hit a three-week high early in the session. July lean hog futures expire on Thursday. Buyer interest in lean hog futures waned as the session progressed, despite a solid gain in cash hog prices at mid-week.
Cattle: Solid gains in the grain futures markets today weighed on the cattle futures markets, especially feeders. The slight discount August live cattle futures hold to last week’s average cash cattle price did limit their downside action today. Cash cattle trade this week has been at steady to firmer prices. On Tuesday, cash trade picked up at $120 in Kansas and Texas and from $124 to $125 in Nebraska and Iowa. That’s steady to $1-$2 higher compared with last week.
