CBOT Closing Comments

Soybeans

August soybeans finished 44 1/2 cents lower at $9.76, and November soybeans closed 14 1/2 cents lower at $8.90. Pressure today came from the news that China will release 500,000 MT of beans from their strategic reserve next week. That assumes that somebody will want to buy beans at their asking price which is well above US soybean prices and local Chinese cash prices. US weather conditions are favourable for soybean development, but the crop continues to lag as far as progress is concerned.

Corn

Sep corn set a new low at $3.16 1/4 and ended down 12 3/4 cents at $3.16 3/4. Dec corn ended down 12 1/4 cents to $3.25 1/4. Export sales were above the high end of trade guesses. Sales were a combined 1,167,700 MT and the range of guesses had been 850,000 to 1,150,000. Some pressure to corn this morning came from the announcement that China will be auctioning off 2 MMT of corn reserves. As with soybeans, who wants them if they are priced above current Chinese cash levels?

Wheat

Sep wheat finished down 1 1/2 cents at $5.33 1/4. Weekly export sales were a combined total of 422,500 MT, slightly above the low end of trade guesses. Wheat seems to be trying to find a harvest low, with potential production problems emerging from Russia, Ukraine, Canada and elsewhere.