Get started

Agricultural Commodities

U.S. 2022 Cotton Crop lowest since 2009 According to USDA’s August forecast of the 2022 cotton crop, U.S. production is projected at 12.6 million bales, considerably below last season’s final estimate of 17.5 million bales and the lowest crop estimate in 13 years. Compared with 2021, cotton harvested area is also forecast significantly (31 percent) lower, but a higher national yield limits a further production decline. Based on the August forecast, 2022 cotton planted acreage is estimated at nearly 12.5 million acres—the area indicated in the June Acreage report and the highest in 3 years, as cotton prices heading into planting season were at historically high levels. However, drought conditions this season in the Southwest—the largest cotton region—is expected to reduce harvested area there dramatically. As a result, a substantially lower U.S. cotton harvested acreage estimate (7.1 million acres) is forecast, the smallest in over 150 years. However, the U.S. abandonment rate projection (43 percent) is the highest on record. The U.S. cotton yield is forecast at 846 pounds per harvested acre in 2022, slightly above the 3-year average. Upland cotton production in 2022 is forecast at 12.2 million bales, 29 percent (5 million bales) below 2021 and the smallest crop since 2009. During the past 20 years, the August upland production forecast was above the final estimate 12 times and below it 8 times. Past differences between the August forecast and the final production estimates indicate a 2 out of 3 chance for the 2022 upland crop to range between 11 million and 13.3 million bales.
CShort
by Sal98
Will lean hog catch up?The commodities market is a close-knit one, with the price hike in one commodity often affecting another. Such correlation is evident in agricultural products such as soybean meals, corn, and lean hogs. Lean hog prices are highly correlated with Soybean Meal and Corn as young feeder pigs are fed a diet of roughly 70% corn and 30% soybean meal. As such when corn and soybean prices rise, lean hog prices often follow suit. As spelt out in some of our previous ideas , we think agricultural commodities are due for a rally amid the backdrop of supply chain constraints arising from the Russian-Ukraine crisis, and high fertilizer costs (due to surging natural gas prices) which in turn feed into crop planting cost. Over the past 3 weeks, most agricultural products staged a rebound with Soybean Meal and Corn getting in on the action as well. The rally resulted in Corn prices up 15% and Soybean Meal prices up 10% from 3 weeks ago while lean hog prices lagged, moving only 4.4%. Thus, we think that lean hog prices have room for more upside. Looking at the chart of HEZ2022, we see the lean hog December 2022 futures breaking out of the range established from the start of the year and coming back to retest the range-high. We see this as support for lean hog prices to break up. Should agricultural commodities continue their rally, higher feed cost would be translated into high lean hog prices. Spread Entry at 90.250, stops at 87.850. Targets at 95. The charts above were generated using CME’s Real-Time data available on TradingView. Inspirante Trading Solutions is subscribed to both TradingView Premium and CME Real-time Market Data which allows us to identify trading set-ups in real-time and express our market opinions. If you have futures in your trading portfolio, you can check out on CME Group data plans available that suit your trading needs www.tradingview.com Reference: www.cmegroup.com Disclaimer: The contents in this Idea are intended for information purpose only and do not constitute investment recommendation or advice. Nor are they used to promote any specific products or services. They serve as an integral part of a case study to demonstrate fundamental concepts in risk management under given market scenarios.
Editors' picks
CME:HEZ2022Long
by inspirante
5
Short term Cocao Analisis On the daily graph, #CC is attempting a break-out from its mid-February downhill from 2800 down to 2250. It has tried monthly to break through that resistance (RED) and failed, it is now on 9th of august attempting yet again. However, this time it looks more supportive as its MACD has turned positive since mid-July and better buy volumes also. Its short term moving average is also trying to turn positive. It is in process. On a longer-term chart, weekly, and which will be showing, the black arrow is attempting to reverse trend. It is so far a weak attempt, as averages are still far from giving any confirmation, and volumes are still largely negative. Nevertheless, higher lows can be a positive indication of a higher price if this tendency maintains itself. I would call this at the crossroad. En el gráfico diario, cacao está intentando romper de su descenso de mediados de febrero desde 2800 a 2250. Ha intentado romper mensualmente esa resistencia (ROJA) y ha fallado, ahora el 9 de agosto lo intenta una vez más. Sin embargo, esta vez parece mejor posicionado ya que su MACD se ha vuelto positivo desde mediados de julio y también muestra volúmenes de compra. Su promedio móvil a corto plazo también está tratando de volverse positivo. A largo plazo, periodo semanal, como se ve en el gráfico, la flecha negra indica que intenta revertir la tendencia. Hasta ahora, parece un intento débil, ya que los promedios aún están lejos de dar una confirmación y los volúmenes siguen siendo en gran medida negativos. Sin embargo, bajos más altos suele ser una indicación positiva de un precio más alto si esto se mantiene. Yo lo llamaría: la encrucijada.
ICEUS:CC1!
by ejencalada
Wheat is falling as Ukraine starts exporting itNice short can be seen on Wheat. If you look at the daily timeframe we are in strong downtrend and keep squeezing to the level. Ukraine started exporting its grain again and first ship already sailed out of the port. One ship won't change much for the world, but fundamentally it's very important news for the market. That's why we can expect more fall in the future. Locally we are nicely squeezing to the daily lows, and after squeezing on 5m timeframe it would be nice to open short What do you think of this idea? What is your opinion? Share it in the comments📄🖌 If you like the idea, please give it a like. This is the best "Thank you!" for the author 😊 P.S. Always do your own analysis before a trade. Put a stop loss. Fix profit in parts. Withdraw profits in fiat and reward yourself and your loved ones
WShort
by Artem_Dishel
9
MOS Weekly TA Neutral BullishMOSUSD Weekly neutral with a bullish bias. Recommended ratio: 55% MOS, 45% Cash . *Fertilizer and grain prices are going down as supply chains ease due to a deal between Russia, Belarus and Ukraine that allows sanctions on fertilizer exports from Belarus and Russia to be lifted in exchange for Russia allowing Ukraine to resume grain exports from the Black Sea through Turkey. However, this could be short-lived considering: a) it's a deal with Russia who literally bombed a port in Odessa the day after signing the deal and b) that the world's second largest producer of fertilizer behind Russia (China) is likely to continue suspending exports of phosphates for the rest of 2022 . Although Mosaic's earnings and revenue were both up on the quarter they missed consensus estimates, while competitor Nutrien beat both estimates and had record earnings in the previous quarter; however, Mosaic expects revenue to continue to be strong for the remainder of 2022.* Price is currently trending up at $52.50 after breaking above the descending trendline from 04/18/22, it also broke above the 50 MA and $49 resistance and will need to close above it this week in order to reestablish support. Volume has been shrinking for the previous seven sessions (indicative of a potential pending breakout/breakdown) and is currently on track to favor buyers for five consecutive sessions if it can close this week in the green. Parabolic SAR flips bullish at $74.55, this margin is bullish at the moment. RSI is currently trending sideways at 50 after bouncing off the uptrend line from September 2015 at 40 support; the next resistance is at 53. Stochastic remains bullish and is currently trending up at 39 as it is still technically testing 29 resistance. MACD remains bearish and is currently trending sideways at -0.50 as it continues to form a trough, in order for a bullish crossover it would have to break above 1.10; the next resistance is 1.75. ADX is currently trending down slightly at 23 as Price is attempting to reverse the downtrend, this is neutral at the moment. If Price is able to establish support at $50 then the next likely target is a test of $56 resistance . However, if Price breaks down back below $50 support , it will likely retest the uptrend line from March 2020 at ~$45 . Mental Stop Loss: (one close below) $50 .
NYSE:MOS
by dailytaguy
1
Short the Hog Margin If You Expect Lower Pork PriceCME:HE1! CBOT:ZC1! CBOT:ZM1! On August 1st, USDA Daily Hog and Pork Report shows that benchmark Iowa Carcass Base Price averages $128/cwt. This is a 15% increase year-over-year, and a whopping 70% higher than the five-year average of $75. Is pork still affordable? Meanwhile in the futures market, while August Lean Hog contract (HEQ2) is quoted at $120.50/cwt, October (HEV2) is sharply lower at $97, and December (HEZ2) is even lower at $87.80. Do we expect pork price to fall a few months down the road? Let’s find out what moves pork price. We start with hog production. It consists of five phases: 1. Farrow-to-wean 2. Feeder pig 3. Finishing 4. Breeding stock 5. Farrow-to-finish Pork price fluctuates following a cobweb pattern due to production lags and adaptive expectations, according to Cambridge economist Nicholas Kaldor. When prices are higher, it draws more investments. However, due to breeding time, there is lapse in the cycle. Eventually, market becomes saturated, leading to a decline in prices. Production is thus decreased. Again, this leads to increased demand and prices. The Hog Cycle repeats, producing a supply-demand graph resembling a cobweb. Hog farmers make business decisions based on their expectations of production profit, which is called Hog Crush Margin . It is defined by the value of lean hog (LH) less the cost of weaned pig (WP), corn (C) and soybean meal (SBM). Below is a sample formula. HCM = 2 x LH - WP - 10 x C -.075 x SBM In futures market, traders could replicate the economic hog crush margin with a Hog Feeding Spread involving CME lean hog (HE), CBOT Corn (ZC) and CBOT Soybean Meal (ZM). There is no futures contract for weaned pig (piglet). The size of relevant futures contracts: HE, 40,000 lbs.; ZC, 5,000 bushels; and ZM, 100 short tons. A typical hog feeding spread is 7:3:1, which may be expressed as: Hog Feeding Spread = 7 x HE – 3 x ZC – 1 x ZM If you expect hog margin to grow, Long the feeding spread: Buy lean hog, sell corn and soybean meal. For a shrinking margin, Short the spread: Sell hog, buy corn and meal. According to Chicago-based consultancy CIH, hog margin for July 1st-15th was $16.74. Margins surged over the first half of July as hog futures rallied while projected feed costs mostly trended sideways during this period. I expect a narrower hog crush margin going into 2023. It may likely turn negative. My theory : On the one hand, corn and soybean meal prices may fall but stay elevated. Russia-Ukraine conflict, bad weather and supply chain bottleneck present real risk for global food supply shortage. On the other hand, pork price could fall faster than feed ingredients. The combined effect is a narrowing hog crush margin. Several factors are at work: Firstly, the hog cycle. Higher price this year will induce more production next year, eventually lowering price. Secondly, with hyperinflation and a pending recession, we should expect substitution effect. Consumer would choose lower-priced protein over pork, reducing pork demand. Finally, China is the wild card. China is the world's largest pork producer. In 2018, it produced 54 million tons (MT) of pork, accounting for 45% of global pork production. With the outbreak of African Swine Fever starting in August 2018, it is estimated that half of China’s hog stock was wiped out over the next year. Pork production in 2019 was 42.55 MT, down 21%. To make up for the shortfall in domestic supply, China began buying pork in the global market in a big way. Frozen pork import grew from 1.19 MT in 2018, to 2.11 MT in 2019 (+75%), and 4.39 MT in 2020 (+108%), which took up half of global pork trades that year. CME lean hog rallied 60% in 2019. More buying from China means more pork demand in Americas and Europe. Global pork price and pork futures price both went up as a result. However, the party did not last long. China’s large hog firms aggressively racked up production capacity with government support. Muyang Group SZSE:002714 , the largest hog producer in the world, grew sales from 9 million hogs in 2019, to 18 million in 2020 (+100%), and 40 million in 2021 (+120%). It is on track to produce 55-60 million hogs this year (+38%~+50%). With domestic production largely recovered, China reduced pork import to 3.71 MT in 2021, down 15%. For the first six months in 2022, China imported only 810,000 tons, down 65% from the same period in 2021. China’s pork price has doubled from its February low. Again, with the Hog Cycle at work, there will be an oversupply of pork next year, further reducing the need for import. We could examine corn price trend further. Corn generally traded in the range of $3 to $4.50 per bushel but shot up to $7 in May 2021. It broke record again this year at $8 per bushel in April. I expect the corn price to fall but stay elevated from previous-year level. Soybean Meal is 50% higher than two years ago. Again, I expect it to fall but stay higher than pre-2020 level. Happy Trading. Disclaimers *Trade ideas cited above are for illustration only, as an integral part of a case study to demonstrate the fundamental concepts in risk management under the market scenarios being discussed. They shall not be construed as investment recommendations or advice. Nor are they used to promote any specific products, or services.
CME:HE1!Short
by JimHuangChicago
1