Chicago Close

15/06/11 -- Soybeans: July soybeans ended unchanged at USD13.68; Nov beans finished up 3c at USD13.66; July soymeal was up USD1.30 to USD360.00; July soyoil closed up 20 points at 57.05. The NOPA crush report for May came in as expected at 120.3 million bushels. Beans managed to distance themselves from sliding corn and wheat as wet weather in the Northern Plains continues to delay plantings. Beans put in a decent performance considering the firm dollar and slumping crude oil together with a range of other negative outside influences. Nov beans came close to testing key support levels around 13.50/13.52 but bounced right back to close the day at 13.66 3/4, up 3c on the day.

Corn: July corn ended down 29 3/4c at USD7.25 3/4 a bushel; Dec corn closed down 19c at USD6.66 a bushel. It was a bad day for corn with funds rushing to exit front month long positions, with July offered at limit down for large parts of the day. Crude oil fell more than USD4.00/barrel and the dollar was higher, adding to the bearish theme. Funds sold an estimated 20,000 contracts on the day, adding to the 15,000 sold yesterday and were given credit for maybe rolling a further 20,000 into forward months. US ethanol production dropped 35,000 barrels/day from last week, whilst stocks rose to 19.745 million barrels. A market saturated with length and with little regard for downside potential seems somewhat stunned tonight.

Wheat: CBOT July wheat fell 22 3/4c to USD7.08 1/2 a bushel; KCBT July wheat was 20 1/2c lower to USD8.19 1/4; MGEX July wheat slid 31 1/2c to USD9.37. Algeria bought 350,000 MT of optional origin milling wheat for July shipment, probably from France. A sinking euro on the back of Greek debt concerns was bearish for US wheat. So too is news that Australia is expecting another bumper crop later this year, with ABARES estimating output at 26.2 MMT, only fractionally short of the 26.3 MMT record set in the current marketing year. Wheat exports meanwhile are pegged at 18.5 MMT this season and 20.1 MMT next, that's 1 MMT and 3.1 MMT more than the USDA estimate.