Chicago Grains Jump - Led By Wheat
13/10/16 -- Soycomplex: Soybeans closed higher on strong demand. The USDA reported 115,000 MT of soybeans sold to unknown destinations, and another 126,000 MT sold to China for 2016/17. A 126,000 MT sale of meal to unknown destinations was also announced under the daily reporting system. The Rosario Grain Exchange estimated Argentine soy plantings down 3% this year vs only 0.5% from the USDA. Chinese crushers are rumoured to have booked 450 to 500 TMT of soybeans this week now that they are back off holiday, according to FCStone. Weekly export sales will be announced tomorrow due to Monday's government holiday. The trade is expecting bean sales of between 800 TMT and 1.30 MT. A Bloomberg survey into trader/analyst sentiment found the trade bearish on soybeans for the eighth week in a row: Bullish: 5 Bearish: 12 Neutral: 3. Nov 16 Soybeans settled at $9.56 1/4, up 10 3/4 cents; Jan 17 Soybeans settled at $9.64 3/4, up 11 1/4 cents; Oct 16 Soybean Meal settled at $299.80, up $5.30; Oct 16 Soybean Oil settled at 33.16, up 2 points.
Corn: The corn market closed with strong gains helped by advances in wheat. The US energy Dept reported weekly US ethanol production at 962,000 barrels per day, down 18,000 bod from the previous week. Stocks were at an 11-month low of 19.39 million barrels, partly due to disruptions in production due to the remnants of Hurricane Matthew. "(The) weather forecast looks to be very favorable with many areas seeing 70+ degree days this weekend. This should help dry down corn and field conditions. I would anticipate a respectable increase in harvest progress with this weather forecast," said Benson Quinn's Brian Henry. Weekly export sales for corn are predicted to be in the region of between 700,000 MT and 1.450 MT. The Bloomberg survey into trader/analyst sentiment on corn found the trade pretty evenly split: Bullish: 7 Bearish: 7 Neutral: 6. Russia said that it's corn harvest was 37.9% done at 5.8 MMT. Ukraine's corn harvest is said to have stalled on adverse weather. FranceAgriMer lowered their French corn export estimate to 5.16 MMT, down from 5.26 MMT previously and versus 6.09 MMT a year ago. Dec 16 Corn settled at $3.49 1/2, up 12 1/2 cents; Mar 17 Corn settled at $3.59 1/2, up 12 1/2 cents.
Wheat: The wheat market closed with solid gains as fund money got spooked into covering in some of their massive wheat short position. Good demand emerged with Egypt, Algeria and Saudi Arabia all in the market tendering for wheat of various volumes and origins. There's talk that US wheat offers are finally becoming competitive. In the Egyptian enquiry there was an offer of 55,000 MT of US hard red winter wheat tendered by Louis Dreyfus at $173.98/tonne. "While the cargo was disqualified, for not meeting tender specifications, it was by a distance the cheapest on offer, below Romanian wheat, of which the lowest offer was priced at $179.99/tonne, with Russian supplies offered at $177.94/tonne or more," said Agrimoney. FranceAgriMer lowered their forecast for the French wheat crop by 0.5 MMT to just 28.0 MMT this year, a 31.5% slump compared to 2015. French exports to non-EU countries were estimated at 6.4 MMT (versus 6.6 MMT previously and 12.6 MMT last season). Exports within the EU were seen at 4.7 MMT (unchanged from last month but down from 7.8 MMT in 2015/16). Weekly export sales tomorrow are predicted at 300,000 MT to 550,000 MT. The Bloomberg survey into trader/analyst sentiment on wheat found: Bullish: 5 Bearish: 12 Neutral: 3. Dec 16 CBOT Wheat settled at $4.16, up 19 1/4 cents; Dec 16 KCBT Wheat settled at $4.14, up 15 1/2 cents; Dec 16 MGEX Wheat settled at $5.32, up 10 1/4 cents.
