Futures Close Report: 5th July 2017
US Crop conditions:
- Corn – 68% good / excellent vs 67% last week (75% last year) – better than analyst estimates but within range;
- Soybeans – 64% good / excellent vs 68% last week (70% last year) slightly below analyst estimates but within range;
- Spring Wheat – 37% good / excellent vs 40% last week (72% last year) slightly below analyst estimates but within range;
- Winter Wheat – 48% good / excellent vs 49% last week (62% last year) slightly below analyst estimates but within range;
- Winter Wheat harvest was seen 53% complete.
Egypt’s state grain buyer the General Authority for Supply Commodities said on Wednesday it had bought 410,000 tonnes of Russian and Romanian wheat in a tender. 85% was Russian origin showing that they are still the most competitive on the export markets, particularly with the shipping advantage that they hold.
The U.S. government on Wednesday proposed to reduce the volume of biofuel required to be used in gasoline and diesel fuel next year as it signaled the first step toward a potential broader overhaul of its biofuels program. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed total volume marked a slight decline from current levels and was more than 20 percent below targets laid out in a 2007 law. The U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard, or RFS, requires increased volumes of renewable fuels each year, but the proposal would keep targets for use of conventional biofuels at current levels. US uses Corn as its main feedstock for biofuels. Petroleum companies say the biofuel targets are impossible to meet and add billions of dollars in costs. The plan would require companies to blend a total of 19.24 billion gallons of renewable fuels in the country’s fuel supply next year.
