CBOT Closing Comments

Corn

Sep corn closed down 11 3/4 cents at $3.11 1/2 per bushel and Dec corn ended down 11 3/4 cents to $3.22. Last night's crop progress report threw up very few concerns on the surface, however if you look a little bit beyond that silking in Illinois was at 26% compared to 80% for the five year average, and in Indiana at 28% compared to 64% for the five year average. The signs of a very late crop are there for all to see, and the risks from an early freeze obvious.

Soybeans

August soybeans closed down 18 1/4 cents at $10.14 3/4 a bushel, and new-crop November soybeans closed down 17 1/4 cents at $9.05 3/4. In line with the theme of the US crop doing well, but being behind in terms of development Illinois had 24% of the soybean crop blooming compared to the five year average of 69%. Some weather forecasters suggest that the so far benign US weather will turn hot and dry in Aug/Sep.

Wheat

Sep wheat closed down 7 1/2 cents at $5.34 3/4. Egypt bought 60,000 MT of Russian wheat in a tender, seemingly indicating that the recent spat over quality has now been resolved. For the record GASC paid Glencore $178.05 FOB for the Russian wheat. The weather in Europe is less than ideal for harvesting, with large areas of rain affecting crops in France, the UK and Germany.