Chicago Ends Lower Across The Board, Soymeal Very Choppy

23/07/13 -- Soycomplex: A very volatile session saw front end beans and meal collapse, Aug 13 meal traded between USD18 up and USD18 down during the session, before settling towards the lower end of that range. Aug 13 beans also ended sharply lower in what was described as a very crowded bull market one week ahead of first notice day, by Benson Quinn Commodities. August options expire Friday too. Reports that China is considering releasing 3 MMT of state-owned soybeans onto the market may have helped change sentiment a little. Few expect that the USDA's target for Chinese soybean imports of 69 MMT in 2013/14 will be met, with 64 MMT maybe nearer the mark, potentially adding 5 MMT to global bottom line ending stocks next year. US weather conditions remain non threatening, recent rainfall will help improve conditions as the crop edges towards the all-important month of August. Aug 13 Soybeans closed at USD14.62 1/2, down 57 3/4 cents; Nov 13 Soybeans closed at USD12.60 1/4, down 28 1/4 cents; Aug 13 Soybean Meal closed at USD487.80, down USD14.60; Aug 13 Soybean Oil closed at 44.78, down 63 points - another fresh lowest close for a front month since October 2010.

Corn: As with soybeans, US weather conditions are being seen as "near ideal" by many with normal temperatures and rains of 1/2 to 1 1/2 inches for much of the Corn Belt expected this week. Few areas are looking at temperatures higher than the mid-90's. Dec corn stayed below USD5/bu for the duration of the session, posting a new 2 1/2 year low of USD4.82/bu, and not closing too far off that intra day low. The market will be looking to see if the next support level of USD4.79/bu can hold. Resistance is now at USD4.94/bu and USD5.02/bu. The USDA announced the sale of 106,400 MT of US corn to neighbouring Mexico, which included 11,000 MT of old crop. US corn doesn't feature into most destinations though. Japan bought 300 TMT of Ukraine (120 TMT) and Brazil corn (180 TMT) for Oct/Dec shipment yesterday. US corn was said to be priced out to the tune of USD20/tonne versus Brazilian origin and USD30/tonne versus Ukraine origin material. Rain expected in France this week could provide corn there with a needed boost. Chinese weather is also considered favourable for corn yields. The weekly ethanol production numbers are out tomorrow. Last week ethanol production fell to 876,000 barrels/day from 881,000 bpd the previous week. Sep 13 Corn closed at USD5.22 1/2, down 18 1/4 cents; Dec 13 Corn closed at USD4.85 1/2, down 12 1/2 cents.

Wheat: Wheat closed lower on all three exchanges for a second session in a row. Corn offered no support. The first day of the annual Spring Wheat tour in the Dakotas reported yield potential at or above average. Harvesting there is said to be only 2-3 weeks away. Ukraine's winter wheat crop is 81% harvested, producing 17.16 MMT so far. Based on that result this season's harvest should certainly exceed 20 MMT, and maybe even 21 MMT, versus the current USDA forecast of 19.5 MMT. Russia's wheat harvest currently stands at 25.4 MMT with yields up 24% versus last year. Buyers are looking for cheaper alternatives to wheat. Tunisia are tendering for 100 TMT of feed barley for Aug/Oct shipment. Their 2013 grain harvest is said to be sharply lower than last year's 2.2 MMT at 1.2 MMT due to drought. Jordan are also in the market for feed barley, tendering for 100 TMT for Jan/Feb shipment. Egypt are said to be likely to ask the Russian government for deferred payment terms on wheat shipments, after being rebuffed by Russian exporters themselves. Russia's Jul 1-17 grain exports were said to be almost 1 MMT, including 772 TMT of wheat. Sep 13 CBOT Wheat closed at USD6.53 3/4, down 6 cents; Sep 13 KCBT Wheat closed at USD6.99, down 3 cents; Sep 13 MGEX Wheat closed at USD7.44, down 2 3/4 cents.