Chicago Close - Friday

Posted by Nogger - a legend in his own mind at 11:15 | Categorized as

23/09/11 -- Soybeans: Nov 11 Soybeans closed at USD12.58, down 25 cents; Jan 12 Soybeans closed at USD12.69, down 25 1/4 cents; Oct 11 Soybean Meal closed at USD326.00, down USD4.90; Oct 11 Soybean Oil closed at 52.40, down 128 points. Nov beans fell almost a dollar on the week, with Oct meal down USD22.70 and Oct oil tumbling a whopping 415 points. Funds sold an estimated 9,000 soybean contracts on the day, making them net sellers of a reputed 31,000 lots over the last three session. As we know when the funds want out the market only goes one way, giving us the lowest close for a front month on soybeans since last November. The USDA reported the sale of 126,000 MT of soybeans to China, adding to the 180,000 MT that they bought yesterday.

Corn: Dec 11 Corn closed at USD6.38 1/2, down 11 1/2 cents; Mar 12 Corn closed at USD6.52, down 11 cents. On the week as a whole both contracts are down 53 1/2 cents. This was the lowest close for a front month since June as spec money pours out of commodities, with crude oil and ethanol futures also tanking this week. Funds sold an estimated 10,000 contracts on the day, bringing their sales over the last three days to 43,000 contracts - around 5.5 MMT. The commitment of traders report shows them shedding 39,000 contracts in the week through to Tuesday with a net long of 203,000 lots. Assuming that the daily estimates for the past three days are correct then that leaves them still long around 140,000 contracts.

Wheat: Dec 11 CBOT Wheat closed at USD6.40 3/4, up 7 cents; Dec 11 KCBT Wheat closed at USD7.31 1/4, up 10 1/4 cents; Dec 11 MGEX Wheat closed at USD8.51, up 31 cents. On the week overall CBOT wheat was down 47 1/2 cents, with Kansas falling 52 3/4 cents and Minneapolis down just 5 1/4 cents. Unlike corn and soybeans funds are short Chicago wheat, with today's commitment of traders report showing that they increased their shorts by 13,000 contract on the week through to Tuesday. Informa Economics pegged US spring wheat production at 444 million bushels, 31 million below the latest USDA estimate. Some modest rainfall occurred this week on the Southern Plains but more is needed to aid winter wheat plantings.