HIGHLIGHTS
· Market Trend: Corn, CK Down ¼; Soybeans, SK Down 2 ½; Wheat, WK Down 6
· HSBC’s preliminary index of Chinese mfg fell to an 11-month low of 49.2 in March, suggesting the sector is now contracting. The country’s 2014 7.4% economic growth rate was near a ¼ century low and further slowing is expected in 2015. Despite the sluggish #’s Shanghai eked out a .11% gain overnight while the Nikkei shed .21% and the Hang Seng .39%. Greece concerts had Europe lower but Euro zone business activity hit a 46-month high and the German PMI exceeded expectations; markets are up .27% to .56%. U.S. Pre-markets look positive: DOW, +52; S&P, +4.50; NAS, +9.7. $ Index, -.393; energies are higher and gold is up $5.40
· T-storm Weather: Several systems develop pockets of rain and thunderstorms within the northern Plains, Corn Belt, and northern Delta this week, but primarily: 1) miss key HRW wheat areas of the central and southern Plains, and 2) focus on wetter corn and SRW wheat areas of the far southeast Corn Belt. Best rain chances next week are also to the east of HRW wheat. Unseasonable mildness briefly breaks Wednesday-Thursday in HRW wheat areas of Plains, but the main point remains that temperatures average warmer to much-warmer than usual through 10-14 days due to the influence of upper-level high pressure to the immediate west
· May Corn Down $.0025 at $3.90; July Down $.0025 at $3.9775. The funds began the week buying 7
· May SB Down $.0250 at $9.81; July Down $.2050 at $9.8450. The Funds bought 6 K SB; 4 K SBM and 7 K SBO yesterday
· May Wheat Down $.06at $5.28; July Down $.0575 at $5.3225 Fund buying totaled 5 K on Monday
CORN/SORGHUM   ;   </wbr>
· ATI Research: U.S. corn balance sheet; 14/15 carryout down 27 mbu compared to last week to 1.753 bbu
· ATI Research: U.S. sorghum balance sheet; 14/15 carryout unchanged at 27 mbu
· T-storm Weather: Below-average rain of 0.50”-1.00” affects second-crop corn areas of Parana and Center-West Brazil over the next 7-10 days, potentially leaving some crops drier than ideal
· December 2015 corn futures closed at $4.14 ¼ Mon.—up $0.10 v. last week & highest settlement price since March 3
SOYBEANS/WHEAT
· ATI Research: Updated U.S. soybean balance sheet; 14/15 carryout down 5 mbu vs. last week to 394 mbu
· T-storm Weather: Most areas of Argentina receive less to much-less than 0.50” of rain the next 7-10 days with the best overall chance for 0.15”-0.30” today. More rain would likely be ideal for second-crop soybeans
· November 2015 soybean futures closed at $9.65 on Monday, which is the highest settlement price since March 12
· ATI Research: U.S. SRW wheat balance sheet, 14/15 carryout at 180 mbu; 15/16 carryout is forecast at 179 mbu
· T-storm Weather: Dry weather would be ideal across the Delta because it accounts for the main reason that 17% of U.S. SRW wheat production received at least twice the average rainfall over the last 30 days
ENERGY
· Futures are higher this morning: CLK15, +$.36 at $47.82; RBK, +.0154; NGK, +$.033 and HOK, +$.0157
· A firmer trend was seen in cash ethanol markets on Monday: Chicago added 3; Gulf up 1 ½; New York climbed ½; Tampa gained 2 ½; Dallas tacked on 1; and LA was 1 ½ higher at $1.66 ½ per gallon
· RINs were higher: 2013’s gained ¾ to 66 ½-68; 2014’s up ½ to 68 ½-69 ½; and 2015’s climbed 3/8 to 66 ¾-67 ¼
· The April RBOB/April Ethanol spread narrowed in $.0179 to $.2909 per gallon on Monday
LIVESTOCK/POULTRY    
·   Choice boxed beef values increased $1.28 on Monday and are 53-cents higher vs. a week ago
· 5-Area Weekly Weighted Average Steer price increased $2.29 last week to $163.55/cwt & is up $12.68 vs. last year
· The USDA mandatory pork carcass cutout value was down 16-cents on Monday and is 27-cents lower vs. last week
· CME Lean Hog Index was down $0.61 at $62.29. April futures up $0.80 at $59.25 and is $3.04 below the index
Sources: Bloomberg, Dow Jones, AP, T-storm Weather