Risk appetite has been rocked worldwide a marked increase over the weekend in trader and investor fears amid the still-growing coronavirus outbreak. Asian and European shares were solidly down overnight. US stock indexes are pointed sharply lower openings when the New York day session begins, with the DJIA down over 700 points.

While the human toll from the coronavirus (covid-19) is growing, the likely economic toll also is expanding. What is gripping the grain markets is the keen uncertainty of how this situation will eventually play out, with demand for grains worldwide possibly being crimped in the coming months. There is no consensus at all regarding the outcome. China recorded the total number of afflicted at over 77,000 and over 2,350 dead.

The illness is also spreading in South Korea. Northern Italy has some towns quarantined after the covid-19 illness was discovered spreading in that region, including three deaths. Manufacturing indexes from the major world economies are showing the negative effects of the covid-19 outbreak.

US companies are also mentioning the illness as impacting their bottom lines when earnings reports are released. The global marketplace has quickly realized early this year the keen importance of China’s economy in the world supply chain, which has been significantly disrupted.

All of the above is bearish for the grain markets and is superseding other supply and demand fundamentals in the grain markets - at least for now.