Chicago Close

Posted by Nogger - a legend in his own mind at 22:13 | Categorized as

02/03/11 -- Soybeans: Mar 11 soybeans closed at USD13.87 1/4, up 19 3/4 cents; Mar 11 soybean Meal closed at USD359.00, up USD1.00; Mar 11 soybean oil closed at 58.27, up 120 points. Harvest delays in Brazil seem to be driving beans higher, although there are no reports yet of crop losses. China may becoming more relaxed about food price rises is another story doing the rounds, although personally I don't subscribe to either. Strike action in Argentina may be supportive short-term.

Corn: CBOT Mar corn fell 13 1/4c to USD7.14 a bushel, CBOT May corn was down 14c to USD7.21 1/2 a bushel. Funds sold an estimated hefty 16,000 contracts on the day, with prices approaching limit down at one stage. Unwinding of long corn short wheat spreads maybe did some damage. Weekly export sales from the USDA tomorrow are expected to be in the 1 MMT region for the fourth week in a row.

Wheat: CBOT May wheat rose 1c to USD8.11 1/4 a bushel; KCBT May fell 2c to USD9.10 and MGEX May was up 1c to USD9.40 1/2. The USDA confirmed the sale of 220,000 MT of US wheat to unknown, although trade talk suggests that this may have been the weekend business to Saudi Arabia. Japan is expected to buy US wheat tomorrow and South Korea are in the market.