Producers should ?brace for sudden change in American/Chinese relations?

by | May 27, 2020 | 5 Ag Stories, News

Tensions remain high between the world’s largest economies. A market analyst, featured weekly in the Opening Market report, encourages producers to brace for a sudden change in American/Chinese relations.

United States export data signifies additional sales to China. Jim McCormick, branch manager of Ag Market, says the Chinese buyers remain interested in soybeans.

?China continues to be a big buyer of soybeans. They haven?t bought as much corn, (but) I?m optimistic they will come in and buy corn,? McCormick said. ?A couple of weeks ago, China?s corn prices were at five-year highs, while ours were near 10-year lows. Their prices have slid back a bit, so they?ve backed away from the market.?

McCormick admits, “I’m a little worried this trade war could blow back up in our faces.” Thus, he encourages producers to “brace for a sudden change” in American/Chinese relations by taking advantage of a summer run.

“Historically, the corn market does put a bit of a bump in over the next six to eight weeks,” McCormick said. “We’re optimistic that we will see a run in the corn market. If you get that opportunity to lock in profits, don’t be afraid to buy puts or get corn hedged in. There’s a lot of downward risk to the market going into the fall.”