It is certainly nice to have some USDA reports being issued once again but the WASDE report out this week was not an exciting and earth-shattering report. Just a nice quiet report that seemed to confirm all the numbers that the trade had been expecting........please click PDF to see more details

Looking at where prices in the US finished the week one could say that it seemed to be a quiet week. Of course, there are always some exciting moments in the business during the week but when you finish off the week mostly unchanged or only with slight prices changes than it has been an overall quiet week.

Well, the news at the end of the week is that the US Government shutdown is over, for at least three weeks, it will be great to once again get all the USDA services and reports that we count on every day. Let’s hope that the three weeks extends into a 100% end to the shutdown................please click PDF to see more detials

Another week goes by with very limited grain/oilseed information coming from the USDA – amazing how dependent on this information that we have all become.
Looking at the week, as it ended on Friday, there were not any major changes in US grain prices – soybeans ........please see PDF to see more details

The lack of up-to-date USDA reports because of the US Government shutdown certainly leads to a great deal of creative thinking and comments in he trade. We have gotten so used to having all this USDA info in our hands that we all have become dependent. The current shutdown is the longest on record.......please click PDF to see more details

It was an up week for everything this week – corn prices were up by USD 3 to 5 m/t with soybeans higher by about USD 10 m/t and soymeal following at USD 6 to 8 m/t higher – even wheat prices were higher with US spring wheat up the most at USD 8 or so m/t.
While corn prices were not all that much higher, the main upward pressure came from the dry weather in Brazil which could influence the corn yields..................please click the PDF to see more details

Overall it seemed like a down week for most all grains and oilseeds – corn prices were down by about USD 2 m/t on the week while soybeans dropped USD 6 mt and winter wheat moved down by about USD 6 m/t. Reports say that volumes in the futures market have moved lower as we get closer to the holidays.
US futures markets are only open for half a day trading on Monday, so market activity will be limited.........please click PDF to see more details

All the talk about China this week did its best to get prices rallying but this didn’t happen – both soybeans and soymeal were lower on the week as the sales to China were not at all spectacular. As the say in the UK, the soybean sales to China were just a “damp squib” – which means that there was just no bang in the sale........please click PDF to see more details

So, how did we end up the week – well, corn prices were up by about USD 3 to 4 m/t while soybeans jumped higher by USD 8 to 10 m/t – winter wheat too had an up week moving USD 4 to 6 m/t higher.
Much of the running and jumping in the market this week was totally tied to the US/China situation and stories/rumors/guesses about what was actually happening or about the meaning of the announcements regarding US/China discussions.....please click PDF to see more details

The grain and oilseed markets finished the week on the strong side with most prices for corn, soybeans and wheat showing a little rally on Friday – was this the G20 meeting rally.
Corn prices finished the week up by just USD 3-4 m/t higher with soybeans up by closer to USD 5 m/t and soymeal up by USD 3 to 5 m/t. US winter wheat was also up on the week – from USD 3 to 6 m/t higher.......please see click PDF to see more details