Sunflower markets

We are in the price discovery process for 2021 crop insurance price elections. Currently, oil type sunflowers are at $21.20 and confections are $26.30 per hundredweight. Last year at this same time, oil type sunflowers were at $17.20 and confections were $23.00 per hundredweight.

To follow sunflower price election trends, watch the 2021 Chicago Board of Trade December soyoil contract through Feb. 28. Final price elections will be announced in early March. In the sunflower market, nearby old crop prices ended the week mixed at down $0.10 to unchanged. 2021 new crop prices for NuSun and high oleic sunflower were unchanged to up $0.10.

On the CBoT, traders are squaring positions ahead of the next World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report from USDA, out early this week. Some traders who had bet on rising prices are exiting the market selling their contracts and closing their positions after the recent climb in corn and bean prices.

Favorable weather continues and harvest is underway in South America. Harvest is off to a slower than normal start in South America, but production prospects have improved. In Brazil, most analysts are still expecting a bin-busting soybean crop of around 4.850 billion bushels, even despite some delays prompted by uncooperative weather throughout the 2020-21 season. In the week ahead CBoT traders will be keeping close tabs on South American weather conditions and the latest USDA yield and production forecasts.