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Posted by Nogger - a legend in his own mind at 22:08 | Categorized as

29/12/10 -- Soybeans

Jan soybeans closed down 9 3/4 cents at USD13.66/bushel; Jan soymeal ended down USD2.90 at USD365.70; soyoil closed 44 points lower at 56.38. Beans have had a very good run and some profit-taking ahead of the year end was more than understandable. The outlook for 2011 still remains undeniably bullish, as the market now starts to focus on Argentine production problems. Private exporters announced the sale of 120,000 MT of soybeans to China. Estimates for tomorrow's weekly export sales range from 900 TMT to 1.3 MMT.

Corn

March corn closed up 3/4 cent at USD6.24 per bushel; May corn was also up 3/4 cent at USD6.32 per bushel. As with soybeans the corn market took a bit of a breather today, although the uptrend is firmly intact. Private exporters announced the sale of 120,000 MT of corn to Mexico. Estimates for tomorrow's weekly export sales report range from 750 TMT to 1.05 MMT. There's some talk of irreparable damage already having been done to corn acres in Argentina. Warmer than normal temperatures there are expected to continue for at least the next fortnight.

Wheat

CBOT March wheat closed up 1 cent at USD7.99 1/4 a bushel; KCBT March wheat slipped 2 3/4 cents to USD8.57 3/4; MGEX March wheat fell 1 cent to USD8.83 1/4. The Australian harvest is said to be approximately 75% done, yet production forecasts still vary widely. Local firm Australian Crop Forecasters today dropped their estimate from 25.5 MMT to 24.4 MMT. Government backed ABARE still say a record 26.8 MMT, yet other forecasts are in the 22-23 MMT region. Quality is undoubtedly substantially down, although again estimates on how much of the crop will be downgraded to feed wheat.