Technical difficulties delayed the CME spot trade on Monday, preventing a smooth spot trade. Muted markets followed with the assumption that we may not have had all our players able to participate. Futures markets in cheese and butter each carry large premiums relative to current spot markets, which should continue to incentivize buyers to own spot around current price levels. The market is waiting for Wednesday to see if we have any update on tariffs as much is hypothetical at this point. Just like The NCAA tournament – we are on to another round and live to play another day.
Today’s Highlights from Ever.Ag’s Know Your Markets
- Technical problems at the CME Group reduced access to the markets today, with blocks, dry whey and a delayed NDM session all closing unchanged. CME barrels and butter each shed a penny and closed at $1.6250 and $2.3400 per pound, respectively. The only trade was one load of butter.
- USDA’s Prospective Plantings report was bearish for corn, pegging corn acres at 95.236 million, ahead of expectations for 94.361 million acres and up from 90.594 million acres planted in 2024. With more total acres shifting to corn, the soybean picture leaned bullish. USDA put soybean planted acres at 83.495 million acres compared to the consensus call for 83.762 million and down from 2024’s final 87.050 million acres. Cotton acreage saw the biggest reduction, down 12% to 9.87 million acres.
- In USDA’s March Quarterly Grain Stocks report, US corn stocks totaled 8.151 billion bushels, in line with expectations and down from 8.352 billion the year before. Soybean inventories reached 1.91 billion bushels, slightly ahead of predictions and up from 1.845 billion in 2024. After USDA’s reports, May and July corn futures rose, while other contracts dipped just slightly. Soybean futures dropped across the board, down $0.0475-$0.0975.
Ever.Ag - The risk of loss trading commodity futures and options can be substantial. Investors should carefully consider the inherent risks in light of their financial condition. The information contained herein has been obtained from sources to be reliable, however, no independent verification has been made. The information contained herein is strictly the opinion of its author and not necessarily of Ever.Ag and is intended to be a solicitation. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
