DRY COMMODITY Trends

Dry Commodity Trends - MARCH 24, 2023

Sugar

• Spot sugar price offers remain scarce from the beet vendors, due to very tight supplies, according to cash traders, who note that 2022/2023 bookings are considered complete, and the focus is now on 2023/2024 new-crop dealings  
  
• Industry speakers at the recent International Sweetener Colloquium reported that they do not expect a break in domestic sugar prices this season, as they expect supplies to remain tight
• The USDA increased the 2022/2023 sugar beet and sugar cane production estimates on its March supply/demand report, but higher usage pushed the ending stocks-to-use ratio back down to 13.5%, from 14.8% in February
• Global sugar futures remain firm, as industry trade analysts are calling for lower production than they initially expected in India, Pakistan and the EU. The spot global sugar futures contract is up 23% since August 2022

Dry Beans

• Dry bean bookings have been extended in recent weeks, with end users now covered well into Q3, according to cash dealers
• The USDA estimates that 2022 U.S. dry edible bean production was 25.3 million cwt., or 1.148 million metric tons. This is up 3% from the previous estimate, and up 11% compared to last year 

FLOUR

• The wheat markets were lower through Wednesday of this week vs. the prior week
• The May Kansas City wheat futures contract rallied nearly 8% from the low on March 10 to the high on March 21
• The Black Sea Grain Initiative agreement between Russia and Ukraine was extended for another 60 days last Saturday, according to Reuters
• The USDA set the current Kansas winter wheat crop rating at just 19% good to excellent, as the crops will begin to come out of dormancy in a few weeks
• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasts mostly dry conditions for the U.S. Southern Plains over the next two weeks
• Spot durum wheat prices (for pasta) are now at their lowest level since the middle of 2021