US wheat and soybean futures saw substantial gains in overnight trade. The strength in soybeans spilling over into the ICE canola market which also closed higher. Paris rapeseed did close in the black but not as decisively as the US and Canadian oilseeds. Corn futures were drawn higher by the same fundamentals impacting the soybean market in the US. Dry, hot conditions, particularly in the western corn belt, are said to have caused irreversible damage to many corn fields in Nebraska.
A better-than-expected export inspection number for US corn probably should have resulted in a better close than was seen, especially considering the weather in the US. Potentially the cap may have been news that the Ukraine and Russia appear close to an agreement on grain exports through the Black Sea. The reality there is that Ukraine export capacity, although likely to increase considerably, has been crippled to some degree by the destruction of some major port assets.
Chinese corn imports were higher month on month, June imports at 2.2mt. A reminder that sorghum demand there is also strong

The US crop condition report has the soybean G/E rating 1% lower to 61%, as the trade had predicted. The corn rating is unchanged at the national level, 64% G/E, 1% moving from good to excellent, something likely to be reversed next week given the current weather. With about half the crop in the western corn belt now flowering and dry, hot weather expected for the week ahead, damage is all but guaranteed. Parts of western Nebraska saw 41C yesterday, these conditions are only expected to get worse and move further east as the week progresses. The hot dry weather will see winter wheat harvest be completed in many states. With 68% of the spring wheat in head it’s not ideal though. Spring wheat was up 1% to 71% G/E, so currently in good shape.