MARKET COMMENTARY

Good morning!  The corn and soybean markets are both trading lower at the break this morning, after yesterday’s surprising rallies.  Moderate volume has been seen over the past day, as the rallies stimulated farmer selling in both the U.S. and South America.  Going into the morning session, corn is down a penny at 3.76 ¼, and beans are down 4 cents, trading last at 10.12 ¼.  Look for a mixed to lower trade today. 

The spark for yesterday’s rally in the soy complex came from rumors surrounding the Brazilian truck driver strike, which is supposedly blocking the transportation of goods (including soybeans) on major highways in several states of Brazil.  It appears this strike may be short-lived, as this morning there is word that the Brazilian government will be issuing significant fines to anyone blocking traffic (rumored to be as much as $100,000 an hour).  As word has spread, this has restored the flow of soybeans to shipping ports in most of the affected areas already this morning. 

China has returning from their long New Year holiday break, and it is expected that they will pick up where they left off and resume buying.  The question is, will the U.S. benefit from any more sales, or will China switch their focus solely to South America?

Northern and Central Iowa is under a winter weather warning for the majority of the day, and is expected to see significant snowfall today, possibly as much as 10 inches in some areas of the state.  Stay safe!

@fccoopgrain