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Black Sea Regional Analysis

Russian Grain Markets: 28 July – 1 August 2025 The harmonizing of July old crop and new crop pricing is coming to an end. As harvesting continues wit...

Market Commentary: Pushing Toward New Lows on Bearish Supplies

There was higher volume today trading corn and hogs, and lower volume in the soy complex and SRW.  New contract lows were printed for corn, SRW, and H...

Infuriating Ingratiation; Soul Crushing Jobs

Infuriating Ingratiation Based on European press reports, the terms of the transatlantic trade deal (see Tariffs as a Tax) are less objectionable than the...

Summary of Futures

Dec 25 Corn closed at $4.02/bushel, down $0.05 from yesterday's close.  Sep 25 Wheat closed at $5.0825/bushel, down $0.085 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

Snacking Turmoil

There are a lot of issues working against the snack world right now from tariffs to cocoa and sugar prices, to the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) ban on...

Middle East, Mediterranean, and Africa Regional Analysis

Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region Sri Lanka’s cereal imports in 2025 are seen increasing by about 10 percent to 1.6 MM...

Summary of Futures

Dec 25 Corn closed at $4.07/bushel, down $0.0375 from yesterday's close.  Sep 25 Wheat closed at $5.1675/bushel, up $0 from yesterday's close.  N...

Market Commentary: Steady Eddie Back to Work

It was a contrast of a mostly higher day but with new contract lows for corn and all three wheats. Corn wilted from private forecasts of big yields, and ex...

Politics of Tariffs; Tariffs as a Tax

Politics of Tariffs The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington heard legal arguments last week regarding Donald Trump’s use of t...

Mercosur Regional Analysis

Weather Disrupts Argentine Corn Harvest  Heavy rains have compounded weeks of high humidity in Buenos Aires province, marking July as the wettest in t...

USDA Reorganization

USDA has opened a comment period on its agency reorganization plan. Comments will be accepted until 26 August. The plan is similar to that of the first Tru...

Market Commentary: Continued Edging Lower on Big Supplies

It was a mixed and quiet close to the market after a week of mostly price declines. There were new contract lows scored by front month SRW and HRS. Soybean...

Tariffs, Mexico Extension, Federal Reserve, and Jobs Report

President Trump signed an executive order yesterday unveiling a massive overhaul of U.S. tariff policy, introducing a series of new tariff rates for U.S. t...

Summary of Futures

Dec 25 Corn closed at $4.1075/bushel, down $0.03 from yesterday's close.  Sep 25 Wheat closed at $5.1675/bushel, down $0.065 from yesterday's close.&n...

How Will Soybeans’ Uncertain Outlook Affect Other Commodities?

November soybean futures’ recent move below the psychologically important $10.00 threshold has triggered concerns about weakness there affecting othe...

WPI Grain Transportation Report

Dry Bulk Markets  The dry bulk market rally of the past two weeks has ended with rates turning softer this week. The Capesize sector – which lea...

Export Sales

Export Sales and Shipments for July 18-24, 2025 Wheat: Net sales of 592,100 metric tons (MT) for 2025/2026 were down 17 percent from the previous week, but...

Market Commentary: New Highs and Lows, Mixed Volume and Results

December corn closed higher for a second session in a row, no doubt aided by the daily export sales reported by USDA. By contrast and since its recent high...

Summary of Futures

Dec 25 Corn closed at $4.1375/bushel, up $0.015 from yesterday's close.  Sep 25 Wheat closed at $5.2325/bushel, down $0.005 from yesterday's close.&nb...

Friday’s Tariffs; China and Europe; MAHA Outlook

Friday’s Tariffs Brazil and India are two of the bigger countries facing President Trump’s tariff escalation this Friday, and both will receive...

Summary of Futures

Dec 25 Corn closed at $4.1225/bushel, up $0.0125 from yesterday's close.  Sep 25 Wheat closed at $5.2375/bushel, down $0.06 from yesterday's close.&nb...

Black Sea Regional Analysis

Russian Grain Markets: 21 – 25 July 2025 During the fourth week of the new 2025/26 season, the export market was still the driving force behind prici...

Summary of Futures

Dec 25 Corn closed at $4.11/bushel, down $0.03 from yesterday's close.  Sep 25 Wheat closed at $5.2975/bushel, down $0.0875 from yesterday's close.&nb...

Trump Trade Squeezes; USDA Staff Relocation; Scale and Trade

Trump Trade Squeezes It did not help the EU’s trade negotiating position in Scotland this past Sunday when its leaders had just come from China where...

U.S.-EU Trade Agreement

President Trump and EU President Ursula von der Lynen announced on Sunday that they reached an outline of a Cooperation Agreement on Reciprocal, Fair and B...

Middle East, Mediterranean, and Africa Regional Analysis

Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region Egypt’s Mostakbal Misr (Future of Egypt) may not be able to buy grain from Ukraine a...

Livestock Industry Margins

Beef packer margins fell $68/head last week and marked the third straight week of declines to end near -$220, which is back among the worst margins in the...

Summary of Futures

Dec 25 Corn closed at $4.14/bushel, down $0.05 from yesterday's close.  Sep 25 Wheat closed at $5.385/bushel, up $0.0025 from yesterday's close. ...

Humiliating; Keep Your Enemies Close; Contradicting

Humiliating U.S. trade talks with China this week are not expected to net anything more than an extension of the current standoff, which means nothing for...

Mercosur Regional Analysis

Argentina Export Tax Update  The government this week announced a definitive — not temporary — reduction in export taxes for a series of a...

MAHA: More Pulses? Does it Matter?

The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, spearheaded by the Secretary of Health and Human Services Department includes a lot of transformational goa...

CFTC COT Report Analysis

Friday’s CFTC report showed managed money traders continuing to oscillate between slightly bullish and slightly bearish thinking. The past several we...

Market Commentary: Good Weather Trumps Demand

Markets opened today pretty much where they ended in the overnight and pretty much stayed that way all day, which is to say in the red. And it did so prett...

Bullish Cattle Inventory and Cattle on Feed Reports

USDA released two key reports on the cattle market today, the Cattle on Feed report and the July Cattle Inventory report.  The Cattle Inventory report...

Summary of Futures

Dec 25 Corn closed at $4.19/bushel, down $0.0175 from yesterday's close.  Sep 25 Wheat closed at $5.3825/bushel, down $0.0325 from yesterday's close.&...

Cattle on Feed for July 1, 2025

U.S. Cattle on Feed is down 2 percent annually at 11.1 million head on July 1, 2025.  Placements in June totaled 1.44 million head, 8 percent below 20...

WPI Transportation Report

Dy Bulk Markets  Again this week, the bullish story is the rapid rise in Capesize vessel freight values with demand for Australian iron ore driving mo...

Market Commentary: Turnaround Thursday but Friday is Another Day

Today’s trading opened with a head scratcher after USDA reported 135 KMT of U.S. corn sold to China. There isn’t any corn import demand in Chin...

Export Sales

Export Sales and Shipments for July 11-17, 2025  Wheat: Net sales of 712,200 metric tons (MT) for 2025/2026 were up 44 percent from the previous week...

Summary of Futures

Dec 25 Corn closed at $4.2075/bushel, up $0.0325 from yesterday's close.  Sep 25 Wheat closed at $5.415/bushel, up $0.01 from yesterday's close. ...

Further Identification of Mispricing in Ag Futures

WPI offers the following analysis as a continuation of last week’s work examining mispricing opportunities in agricultural futures. Readers may recal...

Livestock Roundup: Cattle Inventory and Cattle on Feed Preview

USDA’s monthly Cattle on Feed report will be released tomorrow, along with the biannual July Cattle Inventory report for the first time in two years...

Market Commentary: Trade Deal News Fails to Excite Ag Markets

The CBOT tried to rally early on Wednesday after traders had the opportunity to react to the U.S.-Japan trade deal, but a lack of details left markets wond...

15 Percent and Certainty; Purity Tests; Cherry Picking Cherries

15 Percent and Certainty The U.S. trade agreement with Japan announced late yesterday was likely Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s final act. Financial...

Summary of Futures

Dec 25 Corn closed at $4.175/bushel, down $0.005 from yesterday's close.  Sep 25 Wheat closed at $5.405/bushel, down $0.09 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

Black Sea Regional Analysis

Russian Grain Markets: 14 – 18 July 2025 The new 2025/26 season export market is the driving force behind pricing patterns asking for more goods at t...

Market Commentary: Weather Premia Withdrawn; Trade Talks Make Progress

CBOT futures saw mixed trade Tuesday with summer row crops pulling back amid a favorable Midwest weather forecast while wheat turned higher on slow sales f...

Ready for War; Deals Trickly In

Ready for War Europe has not won a kinetic war without U.S. help, but one German official quoted by the Wall Street Journal boasted, “If they [U.S.]...

Summary of Futures

Dec 25 Corn closed at $4.18/bushel, down $0.0425 from yesterday's close.  Sep 25 Wheat closed at $5.495/bushel, up $0.0725 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

Egg Report Analysis

The July CPI showed that retail egg prices have steadily dropped this year, down 7.4 percent from June, but still remain 27.3 percent higher than last year...

Middle East, Mediterranean, and Africa Regional Analysis

Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region A BRICS spokesman said that in light of the consolidation of companies in the grain trade,...

Livestock Industry Margins

Beef packer margins fell over $100/head for the second straight week to hit - $151/head, which is among the worst margins in the past decade. The culprit f...

Market Commentary: Grains and Livestock Take Diverging Paths

Grain and oilseed markets pulled back to start the week after favorable showers fell across the U.S. over the weekend. The moisture revived crop prospects...

Ten Days and Counting

Outside markets are counting on trade deals or another TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out) come 1 August. Since the 7 July announcement of the small window to...

Summary of Futures

Dec 25 Corn closed at $4.2225/bushel, down $0.055 from yesterday's close.  Sep 25 Wheat closed at $5.4225/bushel, down $0.04 from yesterday's close.&n...

Tariffs Rock Japan’s Election: Rice, Oil, and Autos

Japanese Prime Minister, Shigeru Ishiba has vowed to stay on as Prime Minister despite his coalition government losing its majority in the upper house afte...

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