CBOT Closing Comments

Soybeans

August soybeans finished 21 1/2 cents higher at USD10.19; November soybeans closed 26 cents higher at $9.88; soymeal settled USD9.30 higher at USD307.60; December soyoil settled 47 points higher at 39.37. Spillover strength from wheat helped push beans higher on pure sentiment. The USDA confirmed 116,000 MT of new crop soybeans sold to China, plus a further 238,000 MT sold to "unknown". Weekly soybean sales exceeded expectations at over 1.2 MMT. The National Weather Service released the 30 day forecast for August and continues to look for above normal temperatures for most of the US, that's a worry for soybean's critical development month.

Corn

September corn ended up 8 1/4 cents at USD3.92 1/2 per bushel; December corn closed up 9 cents at USD4.05 1/4. Corn also followed wheat's lead higher. As with soybeans the NWS forecast for a hot August is a concern for corn. Not only that, the long range forecast calls for above normal temperatures through to October for the eastern Corn Belt. The USDA said that "unknown" bought 152,400 MT of US corn today. Weekly corn export sales were also supportive, towards the upper end of expectations at just over 1 MMT. Funds bought an estimated 25,000 contracts.

Wheat

September CBOT wheat closed at USD5.93 1/4, up 37 1/4 cents; September KCBT wheat closed at USD6.05 3/4, up 33 1/4 cents; September MGEX Wheat closed at USD6.12 1/2, up 29 1/4 cents. Sharp production losses all over Europe, Russia and the FSU are dominating the wheat trade. Speculative shorts are suddenly exiting the dance floor as quickly as they can, pushing things higher than perhaps they should go. Informa Economics slashed their wheat production estimate for Kazakhstan to just 11 MMT. Quality wheat looks like being in short supply in 2010/11, leaving the US suddenly sitting quite pretty. Although that means that their export prospects might improve long-term, weekly export sales were below expectations today at 309,400 MT.