CBOT Closing Comments
Corn
May corn closed at $4.04 ½, up 2 cents. The market continues to flirt either side of the $4 mark. Cold and wet weather in the western Corn Belt continues to delay planting. Sub-zero temperatures across large swathes of the Midwest this weekend will keep farmers from doing any fieldwork. Spillover strength from soybeans and wheat also helped corn a bit, as too did a weak dollar.
Soybeans
May soybeans finished at $9.95 ½, up 18 ½ cents to post a 78 cent rally on the week. A weak dollar and strong export demand buoyed beans this session. The Argy crop continues to get smaller, and fund buying is starting to emerge. The CFTC Commitment of Traders report released this afternoon showed an increase in fund long positions of 34% in the last three weeks. The Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange cut its forecast for 2008-09 soybean production by 1.8 million tonnes to 39.4 million. That is more than 10 million tonnes below early season expectations, and the crop could get significantly smaller yet some are saying.
Wheat
May wheat closed at $5.63 ½, up 13 cents. Wintry weekend weather for the US, with temperatures set to fall as much as 20 degrees below normal is forecast to bring heavy snow for Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa. This is on top of the flooding that we had last week in North Dakota, threatening to cut spring wheat plantings. Spring wheat futures on KCBT advanced 59 cents on the week as a whole.
May corn closed at $4.04 ½, up 2 cents. The market continues to flirt either side of the $4 mark. Cold and wet weather in the western Corn Belt continues to delay planting. Sub-zero temperatures across large swathes of the Midwest this weekend will keep farmers from doing any fieldwork. Spillover strength from soybeans and wheat also helped corn a bit, as too did a weak dollar.
Soybeans
May soybeans finished at $9.95 ½, up 18 ½ cents to post a 78 cent rally on the week. A weak dollar and strong export demand buoyed beans this session. The Argy crop continues to get smaller, and fund buying is starting to emerge. The CFTC Commitment of Traders report released this afternoon showed an increase in fund long positions of 34% in the last three weeks. The Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange cut its forecast for 2008-09 soybean production by 1.8 million tonnes to 39.4 million. That is more than 10 million tonnes below early season expectations, and the crop could get significantly smaller yet some are saying.
Wheat
May wheat closed at $5.63 ½, up 13 cents. Wintry weekend weather for the US, with temperatures set to fall as much as 20 degrees below normal is forecast to bring heavy snow for Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa. This is on top of the flooding that we had last week in North Dakota, threatening to cut spring wheat plantings. Spring wheat futures on KCBT advanced 59 cents on the week as a whole.
