New sunflower crop prices keep climbing

United States Department of Agriculture recently released its March 1 stocks and U.S. 2018 planted acres by crop reports. New crop prices for oil sunflower have continued to move higher the past three weeks. 2018 new crop prices are now $2 to $2.25 per hundredweight higher than last year at this same time. This has led to some industry members expecting oil sunflower acres to show an increase from 2017. Based on historical usage an increase in acres of 15 to 20 percent in 2018 can easily be added given current demand without impacting present prices to a great degree. Confection sunflower acres are expected to be equal to last year. Most private firms look for corn acres to decrease with soybeans and wheat showing an increase from last year. Some private estimates have 2018 soybean acres in a range of 91 to 92 million acres, a record high if farmers match that estimate. Traders remain concerned over the potential for soybeans to be singled out for retaliation by China over new tariffs authorized by President Trump. China imports about 33 percent of the U.S. soybean production each year. Some traders feel the large U.S. soybean supply, slower demand for products and U.S. farmers adding soybean acres in 2018 could pressure new crop soybean prices. Trading in the week ahead will mainly revolve around the upcoming USDA reports plus news of potential Chinese tariffs and impact it might have on U.S. exports.