Chicago Close - Friday
19/08/16 -- Soycomplex: Beans closed lower on the day but higher for the week. The 30 and 90 day forecasts show a normal precipitation pattern through to harvest-time. Strong demand, especially from China underpins. The USDA announced another 261,000 MT of US soybeans for delivery to unknown destinations during the 2016/17 marketing year under the daily reporting system today. Such announcements are now becoming an almost daily occurrence. Talk of a wholesale switch to corn production in Brazil and Argentina next season will only serve to keep the supply pipeline tight on beans through 2016/17 it seems. Sep 16 Soybeans settled at $10.27, down 5 1/4 cents; Nov 16 Soybeans settled at $10.04 1/2, down 10 cents; Sep 16 Soybean Meal settled at $330.00, down $4.40; Sep 16 Soybean Oil settled at 34.14, down 5 points. For the week front month beans gained 13 3/4 cents, meal fell $2.90 and oil added 224 points.
Corn: Corn closed firmer on the day and for the week. Fresh news was hard to come by today. FranceAgriMer lowered French corn crop ratings 5 points to 63% good/very good. The Argentine harvest is now said to be 85% done at 24.3 MMT. The trade is looking forward to next week's Pro Farmer crop tour to see if the USDA's bumper 175 bu/acre yield is pie in the sky. Twitter is full of reports suggesting that it is. Nevertheless, the US crop is likely to be record large again this year. High domestic prices will encourage the South American grower to switch acres significantly into corn for 2016/17 the market suggests. The Ukraine Ag Ministry estimates corn production there this year to reach 26 MMT. Sep 16 Corn settled at $3.34 1/4, up 2 1/4 cents; Dec 16 Corn settled at $3.43 3/4, up 1 3/4 cents. For the week Sep 16 was up 12 cents and Dec 16 gained 10 3/4 cents.
Wheat: Wheat closed mixed, with MGEX wheat gaining the most on the day and for the week. Russia's wheat harvest is 54.4% done and has already reached the 53.5 MMT mark if official figures are correct. The AG Ministry there now suggest that total grain exports in 2016/17 might reach the 40 MMT mark, well ahead of 33.9 MMT last season - and that itself was a record. The French wheat harvest is now almost over at 97% complete as of Monday. The UK harvest is 40% done, but forecast heavy and widespread rains over the weekend will stall progress here. EU soft wheat export licences are currently running 24% ahead of last year's pace, with Romanina particularly active. Sep 16 CBOT Wheat settled at $4.27, unchanged; Sep 16 KCBT Wheat settled at $4.18 3/4, down 2 1/4 cents; Sep 16 MGEX Wheat settled at $5.30 3/4, up 3 cents. For the week Chicago wheat was up 4 1/2 cents, Kansas added 2 1/2 cents and Minneapolis put on 14 3/4 cents. Short covering in Minneapolis wheat continues be a feature.
