Can Grains Continue To Ignore Sliding Crude Oil?
Whilst the market has got itself all excited over the Russian situation, many participants seem to have taken their eye off crude oil.
The price of crude, relative to that of wheat, corn and soybeans became inextricably linked the minute we started using them as a feedstock for ethanol and biodiesel production.
In case you've been asleep you will note that around a third of all US corn goes into the ethanol industry these days.
Yet whilst corn and wheat prices have leapt since the beginning of June, the price of crude oil has stayed flat around USD75/barrel. Currently it's close to USD73/barrel in fact, it's lowest in six weeks.
Continued concerns over demand, or the lack of it, from slow economic growth in the US and Europe are weighing on crude, and those concerns don't look like they're going away any time soon.
Can the grains sector continue to ignore sliding crude oil prices?
The price of crude, relative to that of wheat, corn and soybeans became inextricably linked the minute we started using them as a feedstock for ethanol and biodiesel production.
In case you've been asleep you will note that around a third of all US corn goes into the ethanol industry these days.
Yet whilst corn and wheat prices have leapt since the beginning of June, the price of crude oil has stayed flat around USD75/barrel. Currently it's close to USD73/barrel in fact, it's lowest in six weeks.
Continued concerns over demand, or the lack of it, from slow economic growth in the US and Europe are weighing on crude, and those concerns don't look like they're going away any time soon.
Can the grains sector continue to ignore sliding crude oil prices?