Chicago Close
01/09/11 -- Soybeans: Sep 11 Soybeans closed at USD14.24 3/4, down 24 1/4 cents; Nov 11 Soybeans finished at $14.34 1/2, down 23 cents; Sep 11 Soybean Meal closed at USD376.60, down USD4.20; Sep 11 Soybean Oil closed at 57.71, down 84 points. Funds sold an estimated 8,000 beans on the day ahead of the long weekend. Weakness in corn also led to spillover selling in beans. FCStone lowered their soybean yield estimate to 41.05bpa from 42.4bpa, with production coming in at 3.03 billion bushels. Both are in line with last week's ProFarmer numbers. Weekly soybean export sales came in at 593,800 MT, towards the top end of the 350 to 600 thousand MT estimated.
Corn: Sep 11 Corn closed at USD7.28 3/4, down 28 3/4 cents; Dec 11 Corn fell to USD7.38 1/2, down 29 cents. Funds sold an estimated 18,000 contracts on the day, making them net sellers of around 10,000 on the week. The catalyst for the sell-off may have been FCStone estimating this season's corn yields at 146.3bpa, producing a crop of 12.35 billion bushels. Whilst below the recent ProFarmer number their yield estimate is much better than some of the "low 140's" numbers that have been flying around this week. Weekly export sales were a net 637,000 MT versus forecasts of 400 to 650 thousand MT.
Wheat: Sep 11 CBOT Wheat closed at USD7.15 1/2, down 29 3/4 cents; Sep 11 KCBT Wheat was at USD8.48, down 23 cents; Sep 11 MGEX Wheat finished at USD9.70 3/4, up 3 3/4 cents. Minneapolis continues to lead. Chicago fell on spillover weakness from corn with funds selling an estimated 3,000 contracts on the day. Export sales of 369,200 MT were towards the low end of expectations of 350 to 550 thousand MT. This maybe reminded the market that US wheat is going to have a tough job matching USDA targets for 2011/12 at these prices.