Chicago Closing Comments

Posted by Nogger - a legend in his own mind at 09:27 | Categorized as

08/05/12 -- Soybeans: May 12 Soybeans closed at USD14.37 3/4, down 25 3/4 cents; Nov 12 Soybeans closed at USD13.40 1/2, down 13 cents; May 12 Soybean Meal closed at USD416.60, down USD8.60; May 12 Soybean Oil closed at USD52.90, down 31 points. Funds sold 8,000 soybean contracts on the day, taking the market lower despite bullish fundamentals. Outside markets were a bearish influence in follow through selling in the wake of the weekend election results in Europe. The market is also a bit nervous ahead of Thursday's USDA reports. The USDA announced the sale of 225,000 MT of beans to China split 60,000 MT old crop and 165,000 MT new crop. They also reported the sale of 40,000 MT of new crop soyoil to "unknown". That's seven sessions in a row that they've announced the sale of soybeans to China or "unknown" destinations.

Corn: May 12 Corn closed at USD6.66, up 1 cent; Dec 12 Corn closed at USD5.28, up 3 1/4 cents. Corn closed firmer, but well off session highs, with front month May 12 touching 22 cents higer at one point. May goes off the board next Monday. Funds were said to have bought around 4,000 corn contracts on the day. Old crop remains tight with farmer selling minimal as they busy themselves sowing new crop. There's some suggestion that China may have bought old and new crop corn over the weekend, but there is no official confirmation of this yet. The USDA will give us fresh 2012 world production estimates on Thursday as well as report on US ending stocks which, for corn, it has hitherto been reluctant to drop below the 800 million bushel mark.

Wheat: May 12 CBOT Wheat closed at USD6.09, up 2 3/4 cents; May 12 KCBT Wheat closed at USD6.25, up 5 3/4 cents; May 12 MGEX Wheat closed at USD7.31 3/4, down 3 3/4 cents. Funds were said to have bought around 2,000 Chicago contracts on the day. Export activity is fairly light, Jordan bought 50,000 MT of optional origin wheat in a tender overnight. Tunisia bought 75,000 MT of wheat from an unspecified origin. South Korea bought 112,000 MT of optional origin feed wheat, 92,000 MT of US wheat and 36,100 MT of Australian milling wheat. The USDA are expected to report a sharp rebound in US wheat production on Thursday with an average trade estimate of 2.196 billion bushels (59.8 MMT) versus 1.999 billion (54.4 MMT) last year.