Ontario Grain Marketing Commentary, April 8, 2020
| COMMODITY | PERIOD | PRICE | WEEKLY MOVEMENT |
| Corn CBOT | May | 3.30 | ↓ 4 ¾ cents |
| Soybeans CBOT | May | 8.54½ | ↓ 8 ¼ cents |
| Wheat CBOT | May | 5.48¼ | ↓ 2 cents |
| Wheat Minn. | May | 5.30 | ↑ 5 ½ cents |
| Wheat Kansas | May | 4.78 | ↑ 3 cents |
| Oats CBOT | May | 2.75½ | ↑ 15 ¼ cents |
| Canadian $ | Mar | 0.7119 | ↑ 90 points |
Corn
Ethanol production in the U.S. continues to fall as more companies idle production or delay start ups of new facilities. Experts expect overall fuel demand to plummet by as much as 55 percent. If this is the case, it could result in a drop in ethanol demand equivalent to 2.7 billion bushels of corn. The ethanol production slowdown will also limit the amount of distillers’ dried grains (DDG’s) available to the feed trade. Other feed substitutes will be necessary in order to make up for this loss of DDG’s in feed rations.
Soybeans
The soybean harvest in Argentina was 8% complete as of last week. Last year at this time, Argentina was 6% complete. The average yield as reported by the Buenos Aires Grain exchange is 55.5 bushels per acre, thus far. Brazil is 86% complete with respect to the current soybean harvest, just slightly ahead of the pace set last year.
China has released 500,000 tonnes of soybeans from state reserves in response to delayed cargo out of Brazil, causing a reduction in China’s soybean inventory. The reserves will be used by state-owned crushing facilities.
Wheat
The U.S. winter wheat crop was reported to be 62% good to excellent in the first USDA crop condition report of this year. Last year’s report rated the crop 60% good to excellent.
The 2020 Hard Winter wheat tour has been canceled this year due to the Coronavirus pandemic. A tour of this nature provides the milling and baking industry with an unbiased look at the hard wheat crop in the U.S. The tour scouts the crop at roughly the same time each year, using standardized methods. This enables the public access to reliable and comprehensive data.
2019 cash prices for April 8, 2020, at the market close, are as follows:
SWW at $290.72/mt ($7.91/bu), HRW at $298.46/mt ($8.12 /bu),
HRS at $ 255.49/mt ($6.95/bu), and SRW at $290.72 /mt ($7.91 /bu).
We currently offer 2020 and 2021 harvest prices as well, please call 1-800-265-0550 for more information.
