Grain and livestock markets are reacting to Thursday’s weekly export sales report, with corn emerging as the top performer, according to market analyst Mike Zuzolo of Global Commodity Analytics.
“It seems to me that we tried to pick up where we left off from Wednesday with the tariffs and the trade. The market, I think, on Thursday saw those weekly export sales, some very good, some very bad.”
Zuzolo pointed to pork export sales as a major disappointment.
“Pork export sales, for instance, really rough. Marketing year low, big net reductions from China,” he said.
Corn, however, outperformed expectations.
“But corn kind of the star of the show, up one percent from the four week average,” he noted. “Definitely saw a better export sales week in corn versus the beans, the products, and the wheat market. So the corn bulls are trying to run the front end, push that bull spread here at midday, and corn’s trying to pull the whole thing together as far as turn the whole market around.”
Zuzolo also noted that currency dynamics are playing a role in grain market sentiment.
“I think the other thing that maybe happened is that we’ve got a weaker dollar again because the trade’s more nervous about U.S.-China trade relationship. And corn and wheat have been doing better in the last few weeks with a weaker dollar than the soybeans have been doing. So that’s something else to be watching here.”
In the cattle markets, beef was trading lower, a shift from the recent trend.
“I had good export sales in the beef, I think up about eleven percent versus the four week average,” Zuzolo said. “The issue with beef continues to be Wall Street. It’s up today, but not a lot. And I think as I said, I think the nerves there are still starting to come into the market with the U.S.-China trade.”
Meanwhile, he said pork continues to weigh on the broader livestock picture.
“Pork export sales, probably the biggest issue for the cattle market. But we’re not doing bad after making that record high in the fat cattle,” he explained. “We do have a negotiated cash price, about $4 discount to the April futures. That’s probably something else we’re watching.”