Photo by Jesse Gardner on Unsplash

We kickoff the day with S&P Global Composite PMI Flash, S&P Global Manufacturing PMI Flash and S&P Services PMI Flash at 8:45 A.M., Baker Hughes Oil & Total Rig Count at 12:00 P.M., Cattle on Feed at 2:00 P.M., and Fed Cook Speech at 3:35 P.M.

On the Corn Front the market continued lowered with doubts about the Black Sea Grain Corridor weighing on the market. Weather has slowed plantings and export sales totaled combined 29 million bushels of old crop and new crop sales. Even with farmers holding back this number was well below expectations. Old crop commitments are down 33&from a year ago. The May-July spread hit 40 cents yesterday and is trading at 39 ½ cents presently.  Thursday’s open interest data showed corn shaves off 4,521 contracts and that could be a mixture of fund and speculative lightening up on their positions. Argentine corn and soybean harvest is gaining speed but yield data of 30 to 31 million metric tons maybe overstated. Back to the Ukraine with Russia and the UN will meet early next week, few expect that Russia will relent on its demands for a reduction of economic sanctions that are impacting Russia’s exporters and producers. In the overnight electronic session the July corn is currently trading at 622 ¼ which is 3 ¾ cents lower. The trading range has been 627 ¾ to 621 ¾.

On the Ethanol Front the Biden Administration sees year-round sales of higher ethanol fuel by 2024. The fuel blend known as E15 in eight Midwestern states will go into effect in summer 2024, a year later than the states sought. Once again the pencil pushing appointed folks at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)studied if it could make the changes this summer but concluded there was not enough time for final rule making. They should take the protection out of their name because their environmental policies and deeds have an abysmal track record. The EPA Administrator Michael Regan will consider issuing a temporary waiver to allow sales of E15 this summer. No time like the present. The ethanol industry has long sought expanded sales of E15. Critics in the oil industry have argued that expanding E15 sales in only certain states could lead to distribution challenges. Just like the Biden Administration did with food and your grocery distribution garnering further inflation. There were no trades or open interest in ethanol futures.

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