Chicago Closing Comments - Thursday

14/07/16 -- Soycomplex: Beans closed lower. Export sales came in at 364,200 MT for 2015/16 and 547,000 MT for 2016/17. Trade expectations were 400,000 and 600,000 MT on old crop, while new crop sales were estimated to be between 500,000 and 700,000 MT, so these were a touch on the low side. China took 279,600 MT of the old crop and 300,000 MT of the new crop. The monthly NOPA report is due out on tomorrow with the trade expecting NOPA members to have crushed 145.418 million bushels of soybeans in June. Jul 16 Soybeans settled at $11.11 1/2, down 16 1/2 cents; Nov 16 Soybeans settled at $10.62 1/4, down 43 cents; Jul 16 Soybean Meal settled at $381.30, down $7.20; Jul 16 Soybean Oil settled at 31.12, up 47 points.

Corn: The market closed lower. Weekly export sales came in at 667,800 MT for 2015/16 and similar for 2016/17. Trade expectations had been for old crop corn sales of around 350,000 and 550,000 MT, and new crop sales to be between 450,000 and 650,000 MT, so these were at the high end of pre-report estimates. The trade is still fixated on a hot and dry spell forecast to start next week. Monday's opening should be interesting depending on weekend weather developments and the latest forecasts on Monday. Talk circulates that Brazil is a spent force on corn sales for the remainder of the season. China's corn crop might be suffering from too much rain it is being mooted. Jul 16 Corn settled at $3.62 1/4, down 3 1/2 cents; Sep 16 Corn settled at $3.57 3/4, down 4 1/4 cents.

Wheat: The wheat market ended lower across the three exchanges. Weekly export sales of 317,700 MT for 2016/17 were down 62 percent from the previous week and 53 percent from the prior 4-week average. Exports of 341,300 MT were down 36 percent from the previous week and 32 percent from the prior 4-week average. The primary destinations included a one-off sale to China (63,000 MT). Russian analysts ProZerno said that the country might produce a record 112 MMT of gains this year. A Bloomberg survey estimated Russian wheat exports at a record 27.5 MMT in 2016/17, up 10% from 2015/16. They've been a little slow to get going so far this year as traders sit and wait for the government to make a move on abolishing export taxes. Jul 16 CBOT Wheat settled at $4.21 3/4, down 4 1/2 cents; Jul 16 KCBT Wheat settled at $4.06, down 1 3/4 cents; Sep 16 MGEX Wheat settled at $5.00, down 2 1/2 cents.