Nat Gas, WTI Drop 2%+ as Grains Retreat: The Daily Board, Aug 13

Corn gave back a chunk of Wednesday's 4.4% WASDE surge on profit-taking and technical selling, a normal cooldown after the year's sharpest one-day jump.

The stocks-cut story that drove Wednesday's rally hasn't changed; today's move reads as traders squaring positions, not a reversal of the fundamental read.

So what: basis (the gap between your local cash bid and the futures price) holders who didn't sell into Wednesday's strength still get a meaningfully higher price than a week ago, just not the peak.

Watch: today's weekly USDA Export Sales report for confirmation that demand is keeping pace with the tighter stocks picture.

Beans were essentially flat, holding nearly all of Wednesday's WASDE gain even as the rest of the grain complex retreated harder.

Fresh China demand kept a floor under the market, with private exporters flagging a third straight day of new-crop purchases this week.

So what: steady old-crop basis for anyone still holding bushels; China's buying streak is the more important story than today's rounding-error move.

Watch: whether China's daily purchase streak extends into Friday, and today's export sales tally.

Meal eased back in step with the broader soy complex, giving up a slice of Wednesday's crush (the margin a processor earns turning beans into meal and oil) driven gain.

Oil held up relatively better today, a mild shift in the product split after meal did the heavier lifting on Wednesday.

So what: ration costs for hog and cattle feeders tick down marginally.

Watch: board crush margins and the next Fats & Oils report.

Oil slipped alongside crude's sharper 2.4% drop, sticking close to its usual leash to energy.

The move outpaced meal's decline today, flipping Wednesday's product split where meal carried the bigger move.

So what: biodiesel feedstock costs ease slightly.

Watch: whether oil keeps tracking crude's swings, and any renewable-diesel policy headlines.

Chicago wheat held nearly all of Wednesday's 3.3% WASDE-driven rally, easing only modestly today.

Ukrainian drone strikes reportedly disrupted grain terminal operations near Russia's Novorossiysk port overnight, a Black Sea supply-chain headline that should support rather than pressure the benchmark.

So what: the global benchmark holds most of its report-day gain, a real level shift for anyone pricing new-crop wheat off Chicago.

Watch: whether Black Sea shipping disruptions escalate, and follow-through in fund short-covering.

Kansas City wheat eased slightly after matching Chicago's rally almost cent-for-cent on Wednesday.

The HRW-SRW spread held steady near 66 cents, keeping the hard-wheat protein premium intact.

So what: millers sourcing hard wheat see no real change in that premium today.

Watch: Southern Plains moisture as fall planting approaches, and whether the spread holds.

The Minnie gave back a touch more than its Chicago and Kansas City cousins, though thin liquidity here means the move can look sharper than the underlying story.

Spring wheat still holds most of the premium bump from Wednesday's tighter-stocks read.

So what: spring wheat growers keep the bulk of the report-day gain.

Watch: Canadian Prairie spring crop condition updates.

Oats gave back Wednesday's small gain on this market's usual thin, choppy volume.

A move this size on light trade barely counts as its own signal.

So what: limited direct read-through given how little actually changes hands here.

Watch: Prairie supply updates and the Chicago/Prairie cash gap.

Canola was the lone green line on the board today, extending Wednesday's WASDE-driven gain even as U.S. soybeans and wheat pulled back.

Light August trading volumes are amplifying moves in either direction, and canola's strength today came with the broader oilseed complex otherwise flat to lower.

So what: crush margins widen a touch further for Prairie processors.

Watch: harvest pace through the rest of August and any China/EU trade-policy noise.

No fresh weekly print again this run; the delivered-Lethbridge cash bid carries at C$270/tonne for a fourth straight week.

Corn's pullback today eases some of the pressure Wednesday's 4.4% jump put on barley/corn substitution economics.

So what: feedlot input costs hold steady for another week.

Watch: the next weekly Prairie feed-grain update for a fresh print.

Crude fell after U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said exports through the Strait of Hormuz are running higher than many independent estimates, easing supply-disruption fears.

Brent crude lost about 2% too, settling near $87, as reports circulated of a possible Washington-Tehran deal to boost shipping traffic through the strait.

So what: a real pullback for the diesel line of the fall input budget after two weeks of Iran-driven spikes.

Watch: whether the Hormuz traffic deal materializes, and any fresh escalation.

Gas posted the board's biggest percentage drop today after this week's EIA storage report showed a 36 Bcf build, above both the forecast and a level already well over the five-year average.

Record Lower 48 production near 111 Bcf/d is keeping supply comfortable even with above-normal late-summer cooling demand.

So what: nitrogen fertilizer costs ease back after a well-supplied storage print.

Watch: next week's storage report and whether the late-August heat forecast holds.

Gold pulled back from Wednesday's fresh high on profit-taking ahead of today's July PPI report, even after opening above $4,400 for a fourth straight day.

The PPI print itself came in flat, cooler than the 0.2% economists expected, which would normally support gold, but today's move read as sell-the-news after roughly a 10% run over the past month.

So what: hedging costs stay elevated even after today's pullback.

Watch: any Fed commentary reacting to the PPI print, and the run-up to September's meeting.

Silver tracked gold's pullback closely today, essentially matching it on a percentage basis.

The gold-silver ratio held steady as neither metal led the other's move.

So what: no major shift for silver-linked hedges today.

Watch: the gold-silver ratio and COMEX inventory levels.

Biggest mover: Natural gas led the board lower, down 2.75% after this week's EIA storage build came in above both forecast and the five-year average.

Cross-market driver: a broad day-after-WASDE pullback hit grains, energy, and metals alike, with canola the lone holdout as light August volumes amplified its Prairie-specific gain.

Watch tomorrow: whether China's soybean purchase streak extends into Friday, and for any follow-through or reversal in today's energy and metals sell-off.

Barchart, "Watchlist Summary (The Daily Board Newsletter) for Thu, August 13, 2026" (EOD report email, session settlements for all 14 instruments)

CNBC, "Oil prices fall after U.S. says crude exports through Strait of Hormuz near 9 million barrels per day," Aug 13, 2026

U.S. Energy Information Administration, Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report, week ending Aug 7, 2026

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Producer Price Index News Release, July 2026 results, Aug 13, 2026

CNBC, "Wholesale prices were flat in July, below expectations for 0.2% increase," Aug 13, 2026

Brownfield Ag News, "Closing Grain and Livestock Futures: August 13, 2026"

Investing.com, "ICE canola futures rise on soyoil strength amid light trading"

Alberta.ca Agri-News, delivered-Lethbridge feed barley cash bid reference (no new weekly print found; carried forward from prior week)