After the Bell | March 9, 2022
Corn: May corn futures fell 20 cents to $7.33, while December fell 7 cents at $6.36 3/4. Corn futures came under pressure as wheat drop sharply a second day and crude oil plunged over $14 after United Arab Emirates said it would support boosting supplies. Today’s monthly USDA Supply and Demand Report held few surprises for corn. USDA cut its 2021-22 U.S. corn ending stocks forecast by 100 million bu. from last month to 1.44 billion bu. and made no changes to the supply side of the balance sheet. Tomorrow’s weekly USDA export sales report is expected to show net U.S. corn sales of 500,000 to 1.2 million MT for 2021-22 and net sales of 50,000 to 700,000 MT for 2022-23.
Soybeans: May soybeans fell 18 cents to $16.71 3/4. May soyoil fell 160 points to 74.15 cents per pound, while May soymeal edged up $1.40 to $474.70 per ton. USDA’s Supply and Demand report included a smaller than expected decrease in projected 2021-22 ending U.S. soybean stocks. USDA pegged ending stocks at 285 million bu., down 40 million bu. from February but under trade expectations for a cut of about 47 million bu. Estimated U.S. soybean exports for 2021-22 were boosted 40 million bu. to 2.09 billion bu. USDA’s weekly export sales report is expected to show net U.S. soybean sales between 900,000 MT to 1.7 MMT for 2021-22 and 900,000 MT to 1.5 MMT for 2022-23.
Wheat: May SRW futures dropped the 85-cent daily trading limit to $12.01 1/2. May HRW futures also fell the 85-cent limit, settling at $11.14 1/2. May spring wheat fell 60 cents to $10.84. Wheat futures fell sharply for a second consecutive day, sustaining losses from overnight trade after USDA unexpectedly increased its forecasts for U.S. and global ending stockpiles. U.S. wheat supplies at the end of the 2021-22 marketing year will total 653 million bu., up 5 million bu. from a February estimate. Analysts expected a decline of about 20 million bu. Projected global ending stocks were raised 3.3 MMT to 281.51 MMT, contrary to expectations for a drop of about 620,000 MT.
USDA is expected to report net weekly U.S. wheat export sales ranging from 200,000 to 400,000 MT for 2021-22 and 50,000 to 300,000 MT for 2022-23.
Cotton: May cotton futures fell 42 points to 117.55 cents per pound. Cotton futures finished lower after USDA’s Supply and Demand data came out largely price-neutral. USDA made no changes to the old-crop balance sheet, keeping its U.S. cotton ending stocks projection for 2021-22 unchanged from last month at 3.5 million bales. Estimated exports remained at 14.75 million bales, contrary to expectations for an increase to about 14.89 million bales. USDA continues to project the 2021-22 national average on-farm cash cotton price at 90 cents, which would be up 23.7 cents from last year.
Cattle: April live cattle fell $1.475 to $137.575. April feeder cattle fell 17.5 cents to $160.15. Weaker cash trade and demand concerns over high retail beef prices continued to weigh on futures. Cash cattle trade around $138 was reported in the Southern Plains earlier this week, down more than $2 from last week. Choice cutout values early today rose 35 cents to $252.79, while Select dipped 46 cents. Movement by midday was decent at 104 loads.
Hogs: April lean hog futures fell $1.775 to $101.15. Despite signs of firmness in the cash hog and wholesale pork markets, nearby hog futures gave back a substantial portion of yesterday’s gains. The CME lean hog index fell 28 cents to $99.00, the fourth straight daily decline, but the next quote is expected to rise 26 cents. Pork cutout values rose 79 cents early today to $106.19. Also today, USDA lowered its forecast for 2022 U.S. pork production to 27.33 million pounds from 27.4 million pounds and cut projected pork exports to 6.73 million pounds from 6.81 million pounds.
