Chicago Close

27/01/11 -- Soybeans

March soybeans settled 14 cents higher at USD13.99 1/2 a bushel; March soymeal ended USD3.00 higher at USD377.40; March soyoil ended 71 points higher at 57.41. Export sales were 780,900 MT for 2010/11 and 159,400 MT for 2011/12. China took a combined total of 511,300 MT of that. The December soybean census crush was 153.05 million bushels, above the average estimate of 152.0 million. Argentine port workers are striking, so exports from there may be disrupted, meanwhile Argentine rains have arrived in force which should help newly planted beans.

Corn

March corn closed down 7c at USD6.50 3/4 a bushel; March corn also closed down 7c at USD6.61 a bushel. Weekly export sales for corn were poor at 547,500 MT in total, of that 414,700 MT was for 2010/11 delivery and 132,800 MT for 2011/12 delivery. Late in the day pressure from falling wheat prices also weighed on corn today. Crude oil was also under pressure, finishing below USD86/barrel, which added some more negativity in a heavily overbought corn market.

Wheat

CBOT March wheat closed down 10 1/4c at USD8.46 1/4 a bushel; KCBT March declined 7 1/2c to USD9.32 1/2; MGEX March fell 1c to USD9.76. As you can see the differential between CBOT wheat and it's higher quality neighbours keeps widening. It all started well for wheat, with March CBOT material coming within 3/4 cent of the early August Russian export ban contract high in early trade, before profit-taking kicked in. Export sales were robust for wheat, coming in above 1 MMT for the second week running.