Nogger's Blog

01/03/12 -- Soybeans: Mar 12 Soybeans closed at USD13.16 3/4, up 3 1/4 cents; Nov 12 Soybeans closed at USD12.94 1/4, up 5 1/4 cents; Mar 12 Soybean Meal closed at USD353.70, up USD2.50; Mar 12 Soybean Oil closed at 53.94, down 15 points. Beans managed a ninth straight higher close as funds came in to extend their length by an estimated 4,000 soybean contracts on the day. The USDA reported weekly export sales at the top end of expectations at a combined 976,400 MT. Argentina's president Cristina Fernandez's soybean crop estimate of 48 MMT, the same as the USDA's, was treated with scepticism.

Corn: Mar 12 Corn closed at USD6.53 3/4, down 2 3/4 cents; Dec 12 Corn closed at USD5.66 3/4, down 1 3/4 cents. The incentive of a dollar a bushel more for old crop corn than new crop is wringing a bit more of the former out of the remaining long-holders. Funds were said to have sold 7-9,000 contracts on the day, having bought around 46,000 over the previous six sessions. Export sales of a combined 713,000 MT were in the middle of expectations of 650-850,000 MT. Weekly ethanol production slipped to 896,000 barrels/day from 919,000 the week before as margins get squeezed and stocks run at record levels.

Wheat: Mar 12 CBOT Wheat closed at USD6.59 1/4, down 5 cents; Mar 12 KCBT Wheat closed at USD6.97, down 2 cents; Mar 12 MGEX Wheat closed at USD8.14, up 10 1/4 cents. Funds were reckoned to have sold around 2,000 CBOT contracts on the day. weekly export sales of a combined 509,100 MT for wheat, at the low end of expectations of 500-700,000 MT. Shipments of only 205,800 MT were the worst since the first week of the marketing year save for the holiday shortened New Year week. The USDA reports the sale of 120,000 MT of HRW wheat to Iran despite the international sanctions against them.