Corn Market Update

? Prices:

• September Corn (CU): $3.84 1/2, up 4 3/4 cents
• December Corn (CZ): $4.07, up 5 3/4 cents
• September/December Spread (CU/CZ): -22 1/2, down a penny

? Market Headlines:

• The USDA's Foreign Ag Service reported daily export sales flashes of 106,680 metric tons of corn for delivery to Mexico and 105,000 metric tons of corn for delivery to Guatemala, both for the 2025/2026 marketing year.

• This morning's export sales report for the week ending July 31st showed old crop corn sales at 170K MT’s, after cancellations of 492K MT’s, resulting in a net total below trade expectations. The featured buyer in the week was Mexico at 208K MT’s followed by Columbia at 149K MT’s.

• New crop sales in the week were strong, totaling 3.163 MMT’s, exceeding trade expectations, and bringing total corn sales for 25/26 to 11.777 MMT’s.  This is the second highest new crop sales total for this time of year. The bulk of the week’s sales were to unknown at 1.279 MMT, followed by 408K MT’s to Mexico, and 402K MT’s to South Korea.

Summary:

Corn futures found support today from stout new crop export sales. Interior Brazilian corn basis is at a high for the year as their farmers are storing and not selling corn. As a result, South American corn export offerings continue to creep higher making U.S. export corn more attractive. Private crop tours going through the Midwest are finding stout corn yields, but thus far they appear to be better in the west than in the east. Early yield reports out of the south continue to be very good.

Soybean Market Update

? Prices:

• September Soybeans (SU): $9.74, up 8 1/2 cents
• November Soybeans (SX): $9.93 3/4, up 9 1/4 cents
• September Soybean Meal (MU): $276.1, up $3.5/ton
• September Soybean Oil (LU): 53.50, down 0.22 cents/lb
• September/November Spread (SU/SX): -19 3/4, down 3/4 of a cent

? Market Headlines:

• Weekly old crop soybean export sales this morning for the week ending July 31^st came in at their highest level in 7 weeks at 468k MTs, exceeding market expectations. The featured buyer in the week was Taiwan at 151K followed by the Netherland at 120K.

• New crop sales in the week also exceeded trade expectations at 545k, with the featured buyer being unknown at 254,000 MTs, while Egypt booked 106K. China continues to be completely absent from the U.S. new crop soybean program leaving our new crop soybean export sales at their lowest level in 20 years at this time of year.

• China imported a record 11.67 MMT's tons of beans in July. The Chinese have been aggressively buying beans from Brazil. Brazilian soybean exports in July totaled 12.25 MMT's, up 9% from June.

Summary:

Short covering drove soybean futures higher. Old crop soybean sales were a pleasant surprise this morning. Year-to-date U.S. soybean exports are currently at 101% of USDA’s annul target. Board crush was down for the third day in a row today, off 3 1/4 ¢.

? Prices:

• September Chicago Wheat (WU): $5.18 1/4, up 9 3/4 cents
• December Chicago Wheat (WZ): $5.39, up 9 3/4 cents
• September/December Spread (WU/WZ): -20 3/4, unchanged

? Market Headlines:

• Wheat sales in this morning's weekly export sales report were seen at 1692k MTS in the week ending July 31st, exceeding trade expectations and the highest weekly sales figure in 9 weeks. Featured buyers in the week were Bangladesh  (165,000 MTs), Nigeria (186,000 MTs), and Mexico (106,000 MTs).  

Summary:

Wheat was up today on chart buying and good export sales. Conditions remain dry in the EU and the Black Sea, and the weather maps suggest this trend will continue for the next two weeks.

In Other News

• Livestock markets ended the day higher. Feeder cattle traded new all-times high during the session on concerns tariffs on Brazilian cattle will slow U.S. imports while hogs found support from strong cutout values.
• October live cattle: $232.225, up $2.575
• September feeder cattle: $349.625, up $5.40
• October lean hogs: $90.925, up $1.05

• Outside markets were mostly lower on Tuesday:
• Crude oil futures: down around $0.61/bbl
• Stock index futures: The Dow Jones index is down 275 points, the S&P500 index is down 14 points, and the NASDAQ is up 18 points
• US $ Index: trading slightly higher, in two-sided trade

• Crude fell for a sixth consecutive session today. Energy markets have come under pressure on an expected upcoming meeting between President Trump and President Putin, which could lighten petroleum related sanctions on Russia and loosen supplies if a deal is reached. An increase in OPEC+ production also looms.

Weather Outlook

?Forecast:

• Temperatures are expected to continue warming into the weekend. A high-pressure system is expected to maintain dry conditions for a good portion of the Midwest, while 7-day precipitation maps show some rainfall for Iowa, Northwest IL, and southern Wisconsin. Temperatures currently look to run above normal through mid-August, with a ridge forming in the Southern Plains. Weather models appear wetter across the Corn belt in the 8-14 day forecast.