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 WEEKLY COMMODITY HIGHLIGHTS
Nearby
Futures | Weekly
Change | Friday's
Close | Year
Ago |
| Corn | -0.1050 | 5.9625 | 5.3425 |
| Soybeans | -0.4050 | 13.6975 | 14.3050 |
| Wheat | -0.1700 | 7.4150 | 6.7000 |
| Cattle | +0.07 | 142.13 | 117.23 |
| Hogs | +1.10 | 88.45 | 72.08 |
| Cotton | +4.58 | 119.70 | 81.15 |
| Milk | +0.77 | 22.20 | 18.91 |
| Crude Oil | +4.97 | 83.87 | 53.57 |
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Grain and soybean futures were under pressure throughout the week, pressured by technical selling, demand concerns, and some improvement in South American weather.
Conditions in Brazil have improved in most areas, though crop expectations have already taken a hit due to dryness in southern growing areas.
Argentina meanwhile saw temperatures soar well into the triple digits, which along with dryness will cause some irreversible damage.
Temperatures are much cooler this week, providing some relief, though the longer-range forecast still looks threatening.
USDA's quarterly grain stocks and monthly supply/demand reports were not major market movers for the grains complex.
Worries about demand for U.S.
soybeans still linger, and domestically the outlook for ethanol demand is souring, with gas demand plummeting.
Ethanol margins have shrunk considerably, and stocks are swelling.
Cotton futures soared, climbing to new contract highs in both nearby months and the December contract.
The cotton market was supported by strong export demand, along with a weaker U.S.
dollar and surging crude oil.
Tensions between Russia and Ukraine, and in the Middle East, have helped drive crude prices.
While that could be supportive for the grains, on the negative side, the prospect of a wider outbreak of Omicron in China could be disruptive to the global economy.
In the livestock complex, live cattle futures started out the week under pressure from technical selling and demand concerns spurred by the spread of the Covid-19 Omicron variant.
However, futures were underpinned by rising wholesale beef prices and held key chart support levels, finishing narrowly mixed on the week.
Hog futures were pressured much of the week by technically-driven selling and demand concerns, but front-end contracts ended the weekly strongly on Friday after wholesale pork prices soared.
Packers are facing uncertainty right now due to Omicron cases among workers, casting a shadow over demand.
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