Chicago Close
02/09/11 -- Soybeans: Sep 11 Soybeans closed at USD14.36, up 11 1/4 cents; Nov 11 Soybeans closed at USD14.45 3/4, up 11 1/4 cents; Sep 11 Soybean Meal closed at USD377.80, up USD1.20; Sep 11 Soybean Oil closed at 57.74, up 3 points. Beans gained 21 1/4 cents on the week, with meal up USD1.80 and oil rising 114 points. Spillover support came from corn although gains were capped by poor US jobs data which led crude oil to post losses in excess of USD2/barrel. Weekend rain potential varies from one forecaster to another. That gives the market the scope to do something dramatic when trading resumes on Tuesday after the long weekend.
Corn: Sep 11 Corn closed at USD7.50 1/4, up 21 1/2 cents; Dec 11 Corn closed at USD7.60, up 21 1/2 cents. What was expected to be a quiet pre-weekend book squaring session exploded into life when respected private analysts Lanworth released a corn yield estimate of 143.3 bu/acre, almost 10bpa lower than the current USDA estimate. An anticipated production estimate by Informa has now been put back to Tuesday. Despite today's sharp rise Sep corn was actually 2 1/4 cents lower on the week. Whatever weekend rain does materialise is likely to be of more benefit to beans than corn.
Wheat: Sep 11 CBOT Wheat closed at USD7.30, up 14 1/2 cents; Sep 11 KCBT Wheat closed at USD8.58, up 10 cents; Sep 11 MGEX Wheat closed at USD9.84 1/4, up 13 1/2 cents. Chicago wheat fell 32 1/4 cents on the week, with Kansas down 8 cents and Minneapolis rising 28 cents. There wasn't much fresh news about for wheat, with Chicago opening lower but turning round after corn moved sharply higher. There are some chances of rain coming up for the dry southern Plains before winter planting begins, although what's in the forecast is hardly a drought-buster.