Consus Ag Consulting Mid-Day Update
Monday, December 30th, 2024
Week two of holiday trade is underway and futures are building on the stronger trend we had last week. South American weather has quickly moved to the front of the news stories as Argentina, Paraguay, and parts of Brazil are now forecast to be drier than normal into mid-January. Some of these regions have not had decent rainfall in over a month and this forecast is not supportive of the crops being predicted. It is interesting to see Rio Grand do Sul is now included in this drier outlook. This is a major production state in Brazil and crop losses there have more of an impact on Brazil’s balance sheets. While growing conditions in this area are not critical at this point, a strengthening La Nina will only add to crop stress in this entire region. This is generating the buying we are seeing this morning. Short covering ahead of year end is also supporting this morning’s trade. Volume remains rather thin though and this will add to the choppy tone of the market. Tomorrow is first notice day on the January contracts bringing elevated positioning on those contracts.
Be sure to check out our YouTube channel, Consus Ag Consulting, for timely market video content, including our early morning “3 Things to Watch” with a quick look at the day’s top stories and our Friday afternoon livestock update! Click on the following link for this morning’s update.
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