Nogger's Blog

05/12/11 -- Soybeans: Jan 12 Soybeans closed at USD11.26 1/4, down 9 1/2 cents; Mar 12 Soybeans closed at USD11.36 1/2, down 9 3/4 cents; Dec 11 Soybean Meal closed at USD281.10, down USD5.30; Dec 11 Soybean Oil closed at 50.07, up 2 points. Weekly export inspections of 31.649 million bushels for beans were poor and continue to lag last season's pace by a considerable margin. Celeres increased their estimate for Brazilian output to a record 75.6 MMT, 1.6 MMT more than the USDA project. The USDA issue revised December WASDE numbers on Friday. Funds were said to have sold around 3,000 soybean contracts on the day.

Corn: Dec 11 Corn closed at USD5.80 1/4, down 6 1/4 cents; Mar 12 Corn closed at USD5.91, down 4 1/4 cents. European debt woes continue to weigh on the market, with S&P warning of possible downgrades for an assortment of EU countries in the months ahead. Funds were said to have sold around 5,000 contracts on the day. Weekly export inspections came in at 38.546 million bushels with 9.3 million of that going to China. Informa Economics appear to concur with last week's bumper Chinese corn production estimate, raising their own figure by 5.5 MMT to a record 190 MMT. They also increased their Brazilian estimate by 1 MMT to a record 63 MMT.

Wheat: Dec 11 CBOT Wheat closed at USD5.98 3/4, down 13 1/2 cents; Dec 11 KCBT Wheat closed at USD6.66 1/2, down 9 1/2 cents; Dec 11 MGEX Wheat closed at USD8.48 1/4, down 7 3/4 cents. Weekly export inspections of 14.497 million bushels bring the year to date total to 533.5 million, around 42 million behind last year. Saudi Arabia bought 330,000 MT of wheat of various origins over the weekend, spreading the business around to include EU, US, Canadian, Australian and Argentine production. Egypt issued a tender after the close, US wheat is unlikely to feature in that one though. Funds added an estimated 3,000 contracts to their hefty Chicago wheat short on the day.