The USDA will release the final production numbers for the 2023 crop season on Friday, January 12. Joe Vaclavik, founder and president of Standard Grain, says Friday’s Crop Production Report is an important one.
He says, “A big report on Friday. This January report, it’s a market mover. It has been historically. I know a lot of people are looking at the South American production numbers, and they are important. They will change. I don’t think that’s going to be what moves the market though. If you see a surprise in the report, it’s going to be something on the use-less side. I don’t know which way, but if there is a surprise, it’s going to be in one of those items. We know the Brazilian soybean numbers coming down. That’s going to be old news by the time it’s printed.”
He talks about expectations going into the report. “I can make an argument for a higher corn demand number. The reason is ethanol, and the pace of U.S. ethanol production is running five or 6 percent ahead of where we were last year, yet USDA is projecting we’re only going to be less than three percent better than last year. So, with an extra two percent, you’re talking north of 100 million bushels of extra demand if we can keep this pace going. I wouldn’t be shocked if you saw that in the corn demand side, which would be a positive. Maybe not a big market mover, but it will be something.”
***EDITOR’S NOTE: We will have full online and on-air coverage of the USDA Reports on Friday, January 12th once they are released.
The above story provided by NAFB News Service
