Nogger's Blog

26/01/12 -- Soybeans: Mar 12 Soybeans closed at USD12.22 3/4, up 9 1/4 cents; Nov 12 Soybeans closed at USD12.21 3/4, up 8 cents; Mar 12 Soybean Meal closed at USD323.60, up USD2.50; Mar 12 Soybean Oil closed at 51.94, up 55 points. Weekly export sales were 466,300 MT for 2011/12 and 126,000 MT for 2012/13, below trade estimates for combined sales of 700-850 TMT. Undeterred funds bought 5,000 contracts on the day. Production numbers in South America keep declining with Brazil's Parana state lowering their soybean crop estimate to 11.67 MMT from 12.7 MMT.

Corn: Mar 12 Corn closed at USD6.34 1/2, unchanged; Dec 12 Corn closed at USD5.66, up 3 cents. Funds were buyers for the sixth session in a row, coming in for an estimated 10,000 contracts overnight and a further 3,000 in the day session. Corn prices have risen for each of those six sessions. Weekly export sales were 958,100 MT for 2011/12 and 82,500 MT for 2012/13, above expectations of 650-850 TMT. There's decent rains in the forecast for Argentina Tuesday through to Thursday next week, but the market seems to think that the damage has already been done.

Wheat: Mar 12 CBOT Wheat closed at USD6.53 1/2, up 12 1/4 cents; Mar 12 KCBT Wheat closed at USD7.09, up 12 cents; Mar 12 MGEX Wheat closed at USD8.27 1/4, up 14 1/2 cents. Wheat led, with funds buying an estimated 2,000 Chicago contracts on the day. Export sales of 604,700 MT for 2011/12 and 14,000 MT for 2012/13 were in line with trade ideas of 500-700 TMT. Egypt were reported to have rejected one of four consignments of Kazakh wheat on the grounds of it containing "unauthorised seeds" and had the remaining three cargoes swapped to Russian origin.