Nearby prices were unchanged to up a $1 with new crop unchanged a week ago at the crush plants.
Based on the most recent figures the price election for oil type sunflowers is expected to be around $30.50 with confections at $32.60 per hundredweight.
Final price elections will be announced in early March.
USDA updated its statistical guesses at its recent Agricultural Outlook Forum. USDA pegged soybean acres at 87.5 million acres, unchanged from 2022 planted acres. This was below the average trade guess of 88.6 million acres.
USDA forecasts soybean production to rise 5% to 4.5 billion bushels. USDA expects higher corn production for the 2023-24 crop year with 91 million acres planted up 2.4 million acres from last year. This was slightly above the average trade estimate of 90.9 million acres.
USDA is projecting a 15.09-billion-bushel crop, about 10% larger than a year ago. If realized, it would be the second-largest crop on record behind the 2016-17 crop year.
Total wheat planted acres are projected at 49.5 million acres, up nearly 3.8 million acres from the 2022-23 crop, and the highest since 2016-17.
Market analysts expected the agency to show all wheat plantings at 48.7 million acres. Total wheat supply will hit 2.575 billion bushels, up 107 million bushels from last year’s crop.
The first estimate of 2023 sunflower acres will be in the USDA March Planting Intentions report.
