Chicago Soy Slumps, Corn And Wheat Steady

Posted by Nogger - a legend in his own mind at 08:28 | Categorized as

17/10/11 -- Soybeans: Nov 11 Soybeans closed at USD12.53, down 17 cents; Jan 12 Soybeans closed at USD12.60 1/2, down 18 cents; Dec 11 Soybean Meal closed at USD323.00, down USD4.60; Dec 11 Soybean Oil closed at 52.90, down 64 points. Soybeans fell on disappointment that the USDA failed to confirm any of the recent heavily rumoured sales to China. Comments out of Germany urging the markets not to expect too much from this coming weekends meeting of EU finance ministers also poured cold water on hopes for some concerted and decisive action to arrest European debt problems. Funds sold an estimated 4,000 soybean contracts on the day. After the close the USDA pegged the soybean harvest at 69% complete, 8 points ahead of the five year average, although a little lower than expected.

Corn: Dec 11 Corn closed at USD6.40 1/2, up 1/2 cent; Mar 12 Corn closed at USD6.51 1/4, down 1/4 cent. There was very little change from corn as you can see, with funds said to be net buyers of 3,000 contracts on the day. Weak soybeans and a lack of cohesion coming out of Europe were bearish influences. Last week's strong export sales and the likelihood of another robust week this week when recent sales to China get factored in are supportive. After the close the USDA pegged the corn harvest at 47% complete, better than expected, seemingly signifying that US farmers switched some of their harvesting attempts away from beans this past week. The five year average is 41%.

Wheat: Dec 11 CBOT Wheat closed at USD6.24 1/4, up 1 1/2 cents; Dec 11 KCBT Wheat closed at USD7.14 1/4, up 6 3/4 cents; Dec 11 MGEX Wheat closed at USD8.95 3/4, up 3 1/4 cents. There wasn't a great deal of change out of wheat today either. Funds featured as modest buyers in Chicago booking 1,000 contracts on the day, although their sizable short still remains. That's supportive whilst they seem reluctant to press the downside for more. Iraq bought 350,000 MT of wheat, although none of it was US origin, with the order being split between Russia (150,000 MT), Canada (150,000 MT) and Australia (50,000 MT). After the close the USDA announced that 73% of winter wheat has now been planted and that 44% of the crop has emerged. Both are now only a little behind schedule (77% and 51% respectively).