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Posted by Nogger - a legend in his own mind at 22:38 | Categorized as

06/01/11 -- Soybeans

Jan 11 soybeans closed at USD13.69 1/2, down 16 1/2 cents; Jan 11 soybean meal closed at USD365.20, down USD4.10; Jan 11 soybean oil closed at 56.90, down 35 points. It was time to take some money off the table, although it has to be said that under the circumstances beans fared quite well really. The Argentine weather forecast is turning wetter and cooler. Informa Economics held onto their Argie bean production forecast of 52.8 MMT, 0.8 MMT higher than the USDA and fully 4.8 MMT more than recent private forecasts from Michael Cordonnier earlier this week.

Corn

Mar 11 corn closed at USD6.02, down 17 1/4 cents; May 11 corn closed at USD6.10 3/4, down 16 3/4 cents. Weekly export sales of 369,000 MT were below trade expectations. A strong US dollar and crude oil ending down more than USD2/barrel were also bearish influences for corn. Informa raised their Chinese corn production estimate to 172.5 MMT, and although they lowered their Argentine production estimate, at 23.75 MMT it was still well above other recent trade forecasts. Funds sold an estimated 15,000 contracts on the day.

Wheat

Mar 11 CBOT wheat closed at USD7.89, down 19 1/4 cents; Mar 11 KCBT wheat closed at USD8.58 1/2, down 14 3/4 cents; Mar 11 MGEX wheat closed at USD8.83 3/4, down 15 1/4 cents. Quality wheat like that traded on KCBT continues to widen the gap over mid protein wheat like CBOT, today reaching it's widest level yet at 69 1/2 cents. Informa pegged Australian production at 26 MMT and upped Argentine output to 15 MMT. Weekly export sales were pretty good at 464,700 MT. US wheat remains at risk from winterkill with seriously cold temperatures in store for early next week.