Market Snapshot | Corn futures testing major support

Corn is mostly 3 cents lower at midmorning.

• Corn futures are slightly lower despite heavy pressure in crude and wheat futures.
• India has raised its nutrient-based subsidy for summer-sown crops by 11.6% from a year earlier to shield farmers from rising global fertilizer prices following the conflict in Iran.
• South Korea’s Major Feedmill Group (MFG) purchased around 68,000 MT of animal feed corn in a second private deal on Wednesday, without issuing an international tender. It was reported to have been purchased from trading house CHS with arrival in South Korea in early August.
• The Energy Information Administration reported weekly ethanol production rose 41,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 1.12 million bpd during the week ended April 3. Ethanol stocks rose 62,000 barrels from the previous week to 26.05 million barrels.
• May corn futures are testing support at the 40-, 100- and 200-day moving averages, layered from $4.50 1/2 to $4.47, with additional support at $4.44 and $4.39 3/4.

Soybeans are mostly unchanged to 2 cents lower. Soymeal is around $1.40 higher, while soyoil is around 220 points lower.

• Soybeans are mostly weaker as selling in soyoil limits the complex. Meal futures are the beneficiary of soyoil long liquidation.
• Top U.S. trade official Jamieson Greer has promoted the creation of a U.S-China board of trade, while downplaying the possibility of a similar group focused on bilateral investment, a sign of what could be at the center of talks when Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Trump meet next month, Bloomberg reports. “We’re looking at that kind of mechanism where we can work with the Chinese to figure what are the non-sensitive goods we should be trading with each other, get a handle on that, figure out what those flows should look like,” said Greer.
• Reuters reports Indonesia’s energy ministry has issued a ministerial decree setting the timeline for the implementation of its biofuel blending mandate earlier today. It said that by 2028, all biodiesel users will shift to the B50 standard, which includes 50% palm oil-based fuel.
• European Union soybean imports for the 2025-26 season, which began in July, had reached 9.74 MMT by April 5, down 9% from the same period a year earlier, according to European Commission data.
• May soybeans continue to face resistance at the 20-day moving average, trading at $11.77 1/4, while support lies at $11.46, which is backed by the 100-day moving average of $11.27 1/4.

SRW wheat is mostly 16 cents lower, while HRW futures are around 9 cents lower. HRS wheat is around 11 cents lower.

• SRW wheat futures have dipped to a more than one-month low as traders despite a notably weaker U.S. dollar.
• Oklahoma and many wheat areas in the Midwest have received significant moisture recently, improving wheat potentials for later this spring, notes World Weather Inc. However, most other HRW wheat areas in the U.S. Plains still need significant rain.
• A group of South Korean flour mills bought an estimated 50,000 MT of milling wheat to be sourced from the U.S. in an international tender earlier today.
• May SRW futures are testing support at the 40-day moving average of $5.83 1/2, with additional support at $5.78, then the 200- and 100-day moving averages, layered at $5.59 1/2 and $5.55 1/2.

Live cattle are modestly firmer while feeders are posting solid gains at midsession.

• Cattle futures are modestly firmer, limited by resistance at this week’s high and fading boxed beef values.
• Last week’s jump in cash trade and coinciding wholesale weakness has pushed packer margins back into negative territory, down more than $200 per head from this time last week.
• Choice boxed beef fell another $5.30 on Tuesday to $382.74, while Select fell $2.04 to $386.33. Movement improved to 155 loads.
• June cattle futures are being limited by this week’s high of $248.45, while initial support lies at $244.92, which is backed by the 10-day moving average.

Hog futures are notably lower at midmorning.

• June lean hogs are posting notable followthrough selling amid technical pressure, though returned strength in the cash index should limit seller interest.
• The CME lean hog index is up 13 cents to $90.06 as of April 6 after a string of losses.
• The pork cutout value fell $1.22 to $97.82 on Tuesday amid losses in all cuts aside from primal hams and ribs. Movement totaled 306.9 loads.
• June lean hogs are extending Tuesday’s weakness, with resistance at the 40-day moving average, currently trading at $107.33. Support lies at the 100-day moving average o f$104.34, which is backed by the March 25 low of $102.95.