Nogger's Blog

21/03/11 -- Soybeans: May 11 soybeans closed at USD13.63, up 1/2 cent; Nov 11 Soybeans closed at USD13.45, up 11 cents; May 11 soybean meal closed at USD366.40, down USD1.50; May 11 soybean oil closed at 55.88, up 11 points. Celeres said that Brazil's harvest advanced considerably in the past week from 30% to 44% done. Argentina’s Ag ministry pegged soybean production there at 50 MMT. "Santa Fe and Cordoba crops received beneficial rainfall amounts of up to 1.2 inches last week. Soybeans filling pods will benefit, and more rain is in the 7-day outlook, which may be heavy up to 2.5 inches in Santa Fe, Entre Rios," say Martell Crop Projections.

Corn: May 11 corn closed at USD6.86 1/2, up 3 cents; Dec 11 corn closed at USD6.09 1/2, up 11 cents. Argentina’s Ag ministry pegs corn production there at 20.8 MMT. For all the talk of US corn sales to China all we have to go on is sales of 116,000 MT to "unknown" last Thursday and again similar today. Sales of 1-2 MMT is what the trade chatter suggests, but as each day passes without official confirmation from the USDA this looks more and more unlikely. Weekly corn export inspections of 29.503 million bushels were a bit below trade estimates.

Wheat: May 11 CBOT wheat closed at USD7.21, down 2 cents; May 11 KCBT wheat closed at USD8.42, down 3 cents; May 11 MGEX wheat closed at USD8.69 1/4, up 1 3/4 cents. USDA export inspections of 25.749 million bushels were in line with expectations. "US hard red wheat area remains hot and dry in the Southern Plains. Wheat is deteriorating without rain to compensate and there is no precipitation in the 7-day forecast," say Martell Crop Projections. Elsewhere the North China Plain wheat received welcome rain of 0.40 to 1.2 inches over the weekend, the first moisture in 3-4 weeks," they add.