HIGHLIGHTS

·       TRENDS—Higher:  CZ, +$.01; SX, +$.0250; WZ, +$.0375; KWZ, +$.05

·       What caught my eye: The slow pace of Brazil’s JJA corn exports compared to last summer—down 25% (150 mbu) and a 22% year to year increase in its FOB prices suggests USDA may still be too light on the country’s domestic demand estimates

·       Not exactly inflationary times . . . Fed says it plans to hold interest rates at nearly 0% until at least 2024—disheartens investors

• Asia—Lower:  Nikkei, -0.67%; Shanghai, -0.41%; Hang Seng, -1.56%
• EUROPE: Lower—DAX, -0.56%; FTSE, -0.88%; CAC, -0.61%
• WALL STREET: A trend? --DOW, -256; S&P, -37; NAS, -109.5
• EXTERNALS: Oct crude, +$0.03 @ $40.19; Gold: -$23.00 @ $1,948; Mar $ Index, +.069 @ 93.240
• T-storm Weather®: for the central U.S., a sustained period of seasonable to mild & dry weather dominate over the next 2 weeks.  A wide area will be much drier than normal with little rain over the period, allowing corn/soybean harvest & winter wheat planting to accelerate through end of Sep.  Temps will fluctuate but average warmer than normal with highs mostly in 70s-80s & lows in 40s-50s, though daytime highs will be slightly limited by an extensive layer of hazy smoke from large wildfires across western U.S.
• CZ, up $.01 @ $3.7275; CH, up $.0050 @ $3.8150.  Funds bought 10 K on talk Chinese production losses may be quite large               
• SX, up $.0250 @ $10.1375; SF, up $.03 @ $10.1825.  Funds bot 11 K SB, 7 K SBM & 8 SBO. Board crush: $0.79 (V/X), LY, $0.82
• WX, up $.0375 @ $5.4575; WH, up $.0350 @ $5.5425.  Funds bought 4 K, mostly in sympathy with higher row crop values               

CORN/SORGHUM

· &nbs​p;     December 2020 corn futures on Wed. closed at $3.71 ¾--the highest settlement price for the contract since March 13

·       Export Sales to be released at 7:30 am CDT.  Trade expects 31 – 75 mbu for 20/21 corn

·       T-storm Weather®: temperatures plummeted last week across the U.S. Corn Belt, leaving corn the coolest in more than five years in mid-September (measured with a 14-day rolling average)

·       Ethanol grind: total of 926,000 barrels/day for the week ending Sep. 11—down 15 thousand (1.6%) versus last week and 7.7% lower compared to last year’s 1,003,000

SOYBEANS/WHEAT

·       November 2020 soybean futures on Wed. closed at $10.11 ¼--the highest settlement price for the life of the contract

·       Export Sales to be released at 7:30 am CDT.  Trade expects 55- 103 mbu for 20/21 soybeans; soymeal, 25 - 100 K MT for 19/20 and 200 - 450 for 20/21; soyoil, 0 - 10 for 19/20 and 0 - 30 for 20/21  

·       T-storm Weather®: coverage of dryness has eased on U.S. soybeans; 32% & 36% drier than normal last 14 & 30 days

·       Export Sales to be released at 7:30 am CDT.  Trade expects 11 - 26 mbu for 20/21 wheat

·       T-storm Weather®: approximately 1.00” of rain over the next week affects much of the eastern Australia wheat crop

ENERGY

·       Firm?  CLV20, +$0.03 @ $40.19; EBX, +$0.05 @ $42.27; EBX-QCLV, +0.02; RBV, +.0021; NGV, -.003; HOV, +.0030

·       Chicago ethanol gained $.0145 Wednesday to $1.44125; basis, mixed: NYC, +$.00175 @ +$.11375; Gulf, +.0080 @ +$.07875; Dallas, -$.00450 @ +$.02875; Tampa, -$.00450 @ +$.12375; LA, +$.0005 @ +$.09375

·       Ethanol RIN values, weaker: 2019’s, -1.125 @ 47 ¾ - 49; 2020’s: -1.125 @ 49 ¼ -50 ½                                   ​;                        ​                         ​                        &​nbsp;                       &n​bsp;                       &nb​sp;     

·       The Oct RBOB/Sept ethanol spread is off $.0237 this morning at -$.2310

LIVESTOCK/POULTRY                   ​                    ​

• Choice boxed beef eased $0.71 on Wed., and is $7.57 lower compared to a week ago
• Moderate cash cattle trade developed at $103 to $103.50 on Wed. in the South, which is $2.00 higher than last week
• The mandatory pork carcass cutout value fell $1.11 on Wed., but is still $3.25 higher versus the previous week
• CME Lean Hog Index firmed $1.07 on Wed. to $66.42.  October futures eased $0.475 & are $1.195 below the index

Sources: Bloomberg, Dow Jones, AP, DTN, T-storm Weather®