Nogger's Blog

27/01/12 -- Soybeans: Mar 12 Soybeans closed at USD12.19, down 3 3/4 cents; Nov 12 Soybeans closed at USD12.22 1/4, up 1/2 cent; Mar 12 Soybean Meal closed at USD322.20, down USD1.40; Mar 12 Soybean Oil closed at 51.59, down 35 points. Beans were up 32 cents on the week, with meal up USD10.30 and oil 116 points. Funds sold 3,000 soybean contracts on the day in a bit of light pre-weekend profit-taking. The Commitment of Traders report shows large funds increasing their net long by around 11,500 on the week to Tuesday. China are expected to be back in the market next week following a week off for their Lunar New Year celebrations. A dry weekend is forecast for Argentina, but rain is seen moving up from the south Monday and pushing northwards through the middle of the week. The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange said that the soybean crop in Argentina would come in at 46.2 MMT, one of the lower estimates around and 4.3 MMT below the USDA.

Corn: Mar 12 Corn closed at USD6.41 3/4, up 7 1/4 cents; Dec 12 Corn closed at USD5.71, up 5 cents. Corn was up 30 1/4 cents on the week. Funds were said to have bought 8,000 contracts on the day, stretching their net buying run to seven sessions in a row. That would have them buying around 40,000 on the week. Private exporters announced the sale of 170,200 MT of corn to Mexico for 2011/12. Coming hot on the heels of yesterday's robust export sales that will cheer the market. US exporters will be welcoming China back from it's week-long holiday on Monday too. The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange estimated the Argentine corn crop at 22.0 MMT, some 4.0 MMT below the USDA.

Wheat: Mar 12 CBOT Wheat closed at USD6.47 1/4, down 6 1/4 cents; Mar 12 KCBT Wheat closed at USD7.00, down 9 cents; Mar 12 MGEX Wheat closed at USD8.26 1/4, down 1 cent. Chicago wheat was up 36 3/4 cents on the week, with Kansas rising 33 cents and Minneapolis up 27 1/2 cents. Today was maybe a bit of consolidation ahead of the weekend after wheat posted some decent gains on the week. The Commitment of Traders report shows funds covering in some of their shorts in Chicago on the week to Tuesday, but still reveals them having a net short of almost 58,000 contracts. That looks set to continue to support CBOT wheat. In contrast funds are long 13,000 Kansas lots and 11,000 in Minneapolis. The USDA announced the sale of 133,200 MT of US wheat for unknown.