US agricultural futures rise
Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) agricultural futures rose across the board on Thursday, led by soybean. The most active corn contract for July delivery rose 10.25 cents, or 1.45 percent, to settle at 7.1875 U.S. dollars per bushel. July wheat climbed 8.75 cents, or 1.18 percent, to settle at 7.5325 dollars per bushel. July soybean gained 27.25 cents, or 1.77 percent, to close at 15.695 dollars per bushel.
New crop soybean and corn scored new contract highs. Funds are adding to net long positions as the Brazilian corn crop shrinks and Central U.S. weather is far from perfect,
Chicago-based research company AgResource noted. Tight stocks are not only impacting U.S. corn and soybean, but also the world. It will take multiple years to replenish supplies with China actively starting to seek new crop supply. AgResource holds that trade next week will depend on Brazilian/North American weather.
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported that for respective crop years to date, the United States has sold 2,671 million bushels of corn and 2,252 million bushels of soybean. The United States remains on pace to export 3,000 million bushels of corn and 2,350 million bushels of soybean in the 2020-2021 crop year.
It is learned that China has secured about 2.0 million to 2.5 million metric tons of U.S. new crop corn in recent days.
Weather forecast maintains a more northward bias with U.S. Midwest precipitation over the next four to five days. Cumulative rainfall of one to three inches will favor the whole of Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan. AgResource notes that soaking showers are needed across the Great Lakes region amid deeply negative soil moisture anomalies.
AgResource strongly stays bullish as the growing season begins in the next two to three weeks.The US Labour Department on Wednesday blocked a rule handed down under former president Donald Trump that would have prevented gig workers from demanding a minimum wage or overtime.
The rule, finalized in early January just before Trump left office and was replaced as president by Joe Biden, would have made it easier to classify drivers for ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft, or delivery workers for companies like DoorDash, as independent contractors, rather than employees.
"By withdrawing the Independent Contractor Rule, we will help preserve essential worker rights and stop the erosion of worker protections," Labour Secretary Marty Walsh said in a statement. The Labour Department said the rule, which is withdrawn as of Thursday, was "in tension" with the Fair Labour Standards Act (FLAA) that mandates a minimum wage of $7.25 an hour for workers and also allows access to other benefits such as unemployment insurance and workers compensation.
During the mass layoffs caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the government launched a special programme to provide jobless benefits to gig workers, since they are not eligible for regular state unemployment payments.
Misclassifying workers would cause them to "lose important wage and related protections," Walsh said.
"We remain committed to ensuring that employees are recognized clearly and correctly when they are, in fact, employees."
Rideshare companies Uber and Lyft strongly opposed the move, saying it would undermine their business model.