CBOT Closing Comments

Soybeans

March soybean futures finished at USD9.63 ½, down 10 ½ cents, March soymeal futures at USD290.90, down USD0.80, and March soy oil futures at 37.15, down 38 points. Although last weeks USDA numbers still weigh on the market, the trade drew some comfort from reports that heavy rains in Brazil might be affecting quality and harvest progress, if not quantity. The USDA backed that up to a degree by today reporting a 2009/10 sale to China of 100,000 MT.

Corn

March corn futures closed at USD3.69 ¼, down 2 ½ cents, May corn futures were at USD3.80 ¼, down 2 ¼ cents. As with beans, last weeks USDA production forecasts still loom over the market. South Korea bought 85,000 MT of optional origin corn overnight. The USDA have also today reported a sale of 116,000 MT of US corn to unknown. That's about as bullish as it gets right now.

Wheat

March CBOT wheat futures closed at USD5.00 ½, down 9 ½ cents, March KCBT wheat futures at USD5.05, down 7 cents, and March MGEX wheat futures at USD5.13 ½, down 7 cents. CBOT did manage, just, to close above the USD5.00/bushel level. Apart from that the size of the USDA's ending stocks numbers, and the very clear lack of export interest in US wheat, seems to indicate that this market can only go one way. The US consumes little more than half the amount of wheat it produces. A reduction in the US winter wheat acreage for the 2010 harvest isn't going to make that great a dent in stocks to usage when you look at it like that.