CBOT Close

Corn

May corn closed at $3.96 down 8 ¾ cents. Corn seems to be struggling to hold above $4 in the wake of only slightly reduced acres in 2009, as reported by the USDA Tuesday. Crude oil also seems to be heading south, and reports that any raising of the limit on ethanol in US fuel sold at the pumps will need to first pass a twelve month feasibility study won;t do corn too many favours just yet. Another week of big export sales is hoped for in tomorrow's weekly export sales report with figures of 850,000 to 1,100,000 MT being mentioned.

Soybeans

May Soybeans closed at $9.52, unchanged on the day. Weaker crude and profit-taking from Tuesday's sharply higher move took the shine off beans today. However, Tuesday's surprisingly low planting intentions figure from the USDA and tight old-crop stocks look set to support beans on any price breaks. Export sales estimates for Thursday’s report are 500,000 to 700,000 MT.

Wheat

May CBOT Wheat ended at $5.25 ½, down 7 ¼ cents. Unlike corn & beans there is not as much uncertainty surrounding the wheat market. Tuesday's acreage numbers came in almost exactly at the average trade guess, as too did the quarterly stocks number. Lingering doubts remain over US production on the Plains. It's too early to say how output in Europe will pan out this season. Export guesses for Thursday’s report are 300,000 to 425,000 MT.