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03/02/11 -- Soybeans

Mar 11 soybeans closed at USD14.35 1/2, down 8 1/2 cents; Mar 11soybean meal closed at USD386.40, down USD0.50; Mar 11 soybean oil closed at 58.78, down 47 points. Bean export sales were monster at over 4 MMT (1 MMT of which was old crop) with almost all of that total going to China. Sales of 1 MMT of old crop beans will further tighten the 2010/11 end stocks balance. With 7 months left in the marketing year – weekly sale need only average 6.4 million bushels to meet current USDA estimates. Today’s sales were 37.9 million.

Corn

Mar 11 corn closed at USD6.62 1/2, down 6 3/4 cents; Dec 11 corn closed at USD5.88 1/2, down 9 1/4 cents. Funds were said to have sold an estimated 7,000 to 8.000 contracts on the day. Weekly export sales from the USDA came in at 1.236 MMT against expectations of 450-700 TMT. Sales for 2010/11 were a marketing year high at 1,166,700 MT. Year to date sales are now running at 59% of the year to date total.

Wheat

CBOT March wheat slipped 4c to USD8.59/bushel; KCBT March wheat lost 3 3/4c to USD9.49; MGEX March wheat fell 11 3/4c to USD9.98 1/2. Weekly export sales from the USDA came in at 565,400 MT for wheat - well below expectations for sales of 800 TMT-1.1 MMT. Egyptian worries are enough to cast a shroud of uncertainty over the market. In the US temperatures will warm up in hard red winter wheat, making a less threatening forecast for the week ahead, say Martell Crop Projections.