Nogger's Blog

25/02/11 -- Soybeans: Mar 11 soybeans closed at USD13.65 1/2, up 47 1/4 cents; Mar 11 soybean Meal closed at USD359.70, up USD9.30; Mar 11 soybean oil closed at 56.95, up 234 points. Despite an incredibly volatile week soybeans were virtually unchanged on the week as a whole, with Mar closing just 2 1/2c lower overall. Meal lost just USD2.30 and oil actually gained 46 points. Weekly export sales were 396,400 MT, compared to trade estimates of 300-500,000 MT. Chinese purchases were just 79,500 MT of old crop and 45,000 MT of new crop, the lowest for many weeks as they switch their attention to South America.

Corn: Mar 11 corn closed at USD7.12, up 26 1/4 cents; Dec 11 corn closed at USD6.01 3/4, up 18 3/4 cents. As with beans, at the end of a very choppy week corn closed virtually unchanged overall, adding 2 1/4 cents on the week. Weekly old crop USDA export sales were a marketing year high of 1.5 MMT, with sales of a further 150,000 MT of new crop. Fund buying was heavy at an estimated 20,000 contracts. Mexico cut their corn crop estimate by 1.7 MMT to 23.3 MMT following frost losses earlier in the month.

Wheat: Mar 11 CBOT wheat closed at USD7.76 1/2, up 29 1/4 cents; Mar 11 KCBT wheat closed at USD8.87 1/2, up 26 cents; Mar 11 MGEX wheat closed at USD9.15 3/4, up 22 cents. On the week as a whole Mar CBOT wheat fell 45 1/2 cents, Mar KCBOT wheat 42 1/4 cents and Mar MGEX wheat 39 3/4 cents. Weekly export sales were strong at 1,008,300 MT of old crop and 105,000 MT for new crop against trade expectations of 700 TMT to 1 MMT. Egypt took 295,200 MT of the old crop sales. In China, rainfall in winter wheat still hasn't materialized, although the GFS model insists that rain is coming, say Martell Crop Projections.