Chicago Close
28/04/11 -- Soybeans: May 11 soybeans closed at USD13.50 1/4, down 27 3/4 cents; Nov 11 soybeans closed at USD13.37 3/4, down 30 3/4 cents;May 11 soybean meal closed at USD348.70, down USD8.00; May 11 soybean oil closed at 56.43, down 143 points. The soy complex closed sharply lower on improved weather prospects and month-end selling, with the funds estimated to have lightened their length by around 10,000 soybean contracts on the day. Weekly soybean export sales of 143,500 MT old crop and 55,700 MT new crop made combined sales of 199,200 MT versus trade ideas of 350-550,000 MT. That was a three year low for old crop sales for this particular week.
Corn: May 11 corn closed at USD7.23, down 29 1/4 cents; Dec 11 corn closed at USD6.37 1/2, down 29 3/4 cents. Corn hit limit down and closed at, or very close to, that point on the back of better planting prospects in the western corn belt and stop-loss selling, driving May to close at its lowest levels this month. July and September ended limit down, with July also at monthly lows. Weekly export sales were dismal at 349,000 MT of old crop and just 94,700 MT of new crop, make a combined 443,700 MT - well below expectations for sales of 800,000 MT - 1 MMT. That's the worst combined total of 2011 so far, and the lowest old crop sales volume since mid-October.
Wheat: May 11 CBOT wheat closed at USD7.43, down 34 cents; May 11 KCBT wheat closed at USD8.70 1/4, down 42 1/4 cents; May 11 MGEX wheat closed at USD9.16 3/4, down 30 3/4 cents. Wheat export sales were the only ones not to disappoint today, coming in at a combined 418,200 MT against trade expectations of 350-550,000 MT. Even so spillover weakness from corn dragged wheat sharply lower on the day too. An improved weather outlook for Kansas saw wheat there end around 38-43c lower. Even so crop conditions are still mixed at best. The weak dollar will help US wheat retain it's competitive edge, with exports and sales running at their best levels for the past two years.