3 Big Things Today, January 10, 2023

1. Wheat, Soybean Futures Drop in Overnight Trading

Wheat and soybean futures plunged in overnight trading on signs of weak demand for U.S. supplies and as investors square positions ahead of this week's supply and demand report.

Exports since the start of wheat's marketing year on June 1 are down 4% year-over-year to 10.7 million metric tons, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a report on Friday.

Soybean shipments are down 8% from the same period last year and corn exports have plunged 32%, USDA said.

Commitments from overseas buyers to purchase wheat are better — up 5% year-over-year — but soybean sales are down 6% and corn sales have dropped 47% from the same timeframe a year earlier, the agency said.

The weekly export sales report showed sales of 47,100 metric tons of wheat versus 478,100 tons a week earlier, but the lower total was from the seven days that included Christmas.

Corn sales dropped to 319,200 metric tons from 781,600 tons. Soybean sales were actually higher, rising to 721,000 metric tons from 705,800 tons a week earlier.

Prices also may be lower this morning as investors square positions ahead of Thursday's monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report.

Wheat for March delivery plunged 12¾¢ to $7.28 ¾ a bushel overnight on the Chicago Board of Trade while Kansas City futures dropped 18¼¢ to $8.10 ¼ a bushel.

Soybean futures for March delivery were down 8¼¢ to $14.80 ¼ a bushel. Soymeal was down $3.30 to $467 a short ton and soy oil fell 0.05¢ to 63.3¢ a pound.

Corn futures fell 1¢ to $6.51 ¾ a bushel.

2. Corn Inspections Drop Week-to-Week While Wheat Assessments Rise

Inspections of corn for overseas delivery dropped week-to-week while soybean assessments were down slightly, according to data from USDA.

Corn inspections in the seven days that ended on Jan. 5 fell to 397,585 metric tons from 683,042 tons, the agency said in a report.

That's also well below the 1.02 million tons that were examined at the same point last year.

Soybean assessments fell to 1.44 million metric tons from 1.48 million tons the previous week, but were up from the year-earlier figure of 985,821 tons, the government said.

Wheat inspections surged week-to-week, jumping to 201,673 metric tons from 85,672 tons, USDA said. Still, that's down from the 234,356 tons assessed during the same week in 2022.

Since the start of the marketing year on Sept. 1, the agency has inspected 10 million metric tons of corn for export, down from 14.1 million tons during the same timeframe a year earlier.

Soybean inspections since the beginning of September now stand at 30.1 million metric tons, down from the 31.8 million tons examined during the same period last year, the government said.

Wheat assessments since the start of the grain's marketing year on June 1 are now at 12.1 million metric tons, down from 12.4 million tons at the same point in 2022, USDA said in its report.

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3. Red-Flag Warnings Issued For Parts of Texas Panhandle

Extremely dry weather in the southern Plains has led to red-flag warnings and high-wind watches in parts of the Texas panhandle and eastern New Mexico this afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

The dry weather will continue through tomorrow with winds gusting up to 60 mph, the NWS said in a report early this morning. Relative humidity will fall as low as 15%.

"Strong winds will combine with low humidity and well-above-normal temperatures to bring a few hours of critical fire weather conditions to the east-central Plains this afternoon," the NWS said.

In eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas, meanwhile, rainfall is expected tomorrow evening as storms move into the area, the agency said.

"Isolated thunderstorms will also be possible, along with a limited potential for a brief strong to marginally severe storm," the NWS said. "Most activity will be east of the area after midnight."