Chicago Close Pre-USDA Report
11/08/16 -- Soycomplex: Beans closed a little it firmer heading into tomorrow's WASDE report. Weekly export sales came in at 308,000 MT for 2015/16 and 2,792,200 MT for 2016/17. China took a whopping 1,844,000 MT of the new crop along with unknown destinations booking 743,000 MT. Exports of 1,074,200 MT were up 49 percent from the previous week and up noticeably from the prior 4-week average, with China taking almost half. The trade is talking a 47.6 bu/acre yield estimate from the USDA tomorrow, but given the current rate of export interest that might need to be even higher. The USDA also reported 120,000 MT of new crop sales to China and 129,000 MT to unknown under the daily reporting system. Aug 16 Soybeans settled at $10.22 1/4, up 5 1/4 cents; Nov 16 Soybeans settled at $9.84, up 1 3/4 cents; Aug 16 Soybean Meal settled at $333.90, down $2.30; Aug 16 Soybean Oil settled at 31.71, up 21 points.
Corn: Corn closed slightly lower. Weekly export sales of 594,900 MT for 2015/16 were up 80 percent from the previous week and 34 percent from the prior 4-week average. New crop sales of 1,015,600 MT were in line with expectations. Exports of 1,444,200 MT were up 27 percent from the previous week and 16 percent from the prior 4-week average. The trade is expecting a US corn yield of 170.6 bu/acre on average in tomorrow's report, although at least one pundit is as high as 175 bu/acre. China offered another 3.2 MMT of corn stocks for auction but only sold 214 TMT of those. Dr Cordonnier said that Brazil is looking at allowing 1.5 MMT of US GMO corn into the country tax free to help the domestic livestock industry cope with local prices said to be close on $7/bu. Sep 16 Corn settled at $3.21, down 1 1/2 cents; Dec 16 Corn settled at $3.31 3/4, down 1 1/4 cents.
Wheat: Wheat closed firmer. Weekly export sales came in a better than expected 607,600 MT for 2016/17, up 86 percent from the previous week and 49 percent from the prior 4-week average. Exports of 405,800 MT though were down 30 percent from the previous week and 11 percent from the prior 4-week average. The EU crop is getting smaller, and not in dribs and drabs either. So too are export prospects from the region. Strategie Grains cut their latest estimate for the soft wheat crop by 7.7 MMT to 137.9 MMT, mainly due to losses in France where production was pegged at 29.9 MMT, down 6.0 MMT from last month and 11.1 MMT on last year. They also took a serious slice off their prediction for EU soft wheat exports in 2016/17, down 4.3 MMT to 24.7 MMT. The trade will look with interest to see how the USDA addresses the issue tomorrow. Sep 16 CBOT Wheat settled at $4.16 1/4, down 5 1/2 cents; Sep 16 KCBT Wheat settled at $4.12 1/4, up 1/2 cent; Sep 16 MGEX Wheat settled at $5.03 1/2, up 2 1/4 cents.
