GCC Weekly Market Commentary > 2023 > December 2023 > Weekly Market Update 12-21-23

Weekly Market Update 12-21-23

Dec 21, 2023

Here is your weekly market update from the Garden City Co-op Grain Origination Team.

Trivia

How many lights were on the Griswold's house in the movie Christmas Vacation?
In The Polar Express,what is the first gift of Christmas?

Answers at the bottom.

Merry Christmas from your GCC Grain Team!

Our offices will be closed on Monday, December 25th to celebrate Christmas and on Monday, January 1st for New Year's Day. Deferred payment checks that have been designated for pick up will be available in our offices on Tuesday, January 2nd.

Commodity markets will be open as follows:

Christmas Market Schedule:
Friday, Dec 22^nd—Regular Close
Sunday, Dec 24^th- No Overnight
Mon, Dec 25^th—Closed, No Overnight
Tues, Dec 26^th—Regular Open, 8:30am CST

New Year’s Market Schedule:
Friday, Dec 29^th —Regular Close
Sunday, Dec 31^st -- No Overnight
Mon, Jan 1^st—Closed, No Overnight
Tues, Jan 2^nd—Regular Open, 8:30am CST

Market News

Red Sea Attacks: Attacks on ships traversing through the Red Sea to the Suez Canal has caused shipping companies to consider alternative routes or simply to cancel contracts causing delays and other issues. Houthi fighters have stepped up attacks on vessels in the Red Sea to show support for Hamas as Israel’s military offensive in Gaza continues. The group has vowed to continue targeting Israeli ships or vessels headed to Israeli ports. Shipping companies have now changed their trade route through the Red Sea to going around the Cape of Good Hope around South Africa. This causes up to 5 or more days of delays and additional cost, which will trickle down to the consumer level of prices. There has been a new international navy coalition assembled by the U.S. to combat the attacks, but additional information regarding the coalition has yet to come out.

Export Inspections The latest export inspection report shows that corn has reached the high end of the estimated amount at 37.3 million bushels. Similarly, soybeans also reported significant numbers with 51.9 million bushels being inspected. On the other hand, milo has 10.6 million bushels inspected and wheat reported 10.5 million bushels. However, the progress for corn is still below the current estimated pace, whereas soybeans and milo are on track. Wheat is also behind pace.

Export Sales Export sales for corn this week were satisfactory, but fell closer to the lower end of trade estimates at 39.9 million bushels sold, keeping sales just 5.6 million bushels ahead of the needed pace. This falls 27.2 million bushels under the 5-year average. The two largest buyers of U.S. corn were Mexico and Japan, with a significant gap in quantity, followed by China and Colombia as the third and fourth largest buyers respectively. Wheat sales were within estimates at 11.9 million bushels, reflecting a return to normal levels after recent Chinese business. Mexico led buyers with SRW and HRW, followed by Japan and Indonesia. Beans showed excellent numbers for the week with 73.1 million bushels sold and 5.3 million new crop sales. Milo is boasting 9.3 million for the current week.

Weather

Tomorrow is expected to be a warmer and sunny change from today, before we head into a rainy, cooler holiday weekend. Saturday and Sunday both have chances for rain and forecasts currently show a shot at a white Christmas. Temperatures warm back up into the 50s and the sun starts showing its face again by mid-next week and should stick around for the foreseeable future.

Trivia Answers