Chicago Grains Mostly Lower Ahead Of Long Weekend
29/08/14 -- Soycomplex: Beans closed higher on front end Sep 14, but lower on the rest heading into the 3-day weekend with the market closed on Monday for Labor Day. The USDA announced 123,000 MT of US beans sold to unknown for 2014/15 delivery. The International Grains Council made only a few small changes to their 2014/15 global soybean balance sheet. These included a small rise in production for the US, up from 103.4 MMT to 103.8 MMT. "Abundant rains continued to benefit US soybean crops, with output forecast slightly higher, at a new record. While southern hemisphere fields are yet to be seeded, output is also projected to increase in Brazil and Argentina," they said. Sep 14 Soybeans closed at $10.89 1/2, up 15 3/4 cents; Nov 14 Soybeans closed at $10.24 1/4, down 4 1/2 cents; Sep 14 Soybean Meal closed at $439.50, up $6.30; Sep 14 Soybean Oil closed at 32.04, down 60 points. For the week Sep 14 beans were down 76 1/2 cents, with meal gaining $6.20 and oil losing 32 points.
Corn: The corn market closed lower with fund money estimated as selling around a net 7,000 contracts on the day. The IGC increased their forecast for the 2014/15 global corn crop by 4 MMT from last month to 973 MMT. "Northern hemisphere yield prospects continued to improve in August, including in the US, where crops have benefitted from a prolonged period of benign weather," they said. They increased their production estimate for the US by 2 MMT to a record 355 MMT, with Europe up by 1.4 MMT to 67.8 MMT and Ukraine raised by 1 MMT to 27.5 MMT. China's crop was left unchanged at 220 MMT, with imports also unchanged at 3.5 MMT. World corn ending stocks were raised 3 MMT to 190 MMT, which they said was the largest since 1987/88. South Korea's Kocopia bought 55,000 MT of optional origin corn for Jan shipment. Sep 14 Corn closed at $3.59, down 2 3/4 cents; Dec 14 Corn closed at $3.64 3/4, down 4 1/2 cents. For the week Sep 14 corn was down 6 1/2 cents, with Dec 14 falling 6 3/4 cents.
Wheat: The wheat market closed mixed, lower in Chicago and Kansas and firmer in Minneapolis. The IGC raised their forecast for the 2014/15 global wheat crop by 11 MMT to 713 MMT, which would now match last season's record output. Ending stocks also got a hike, up 3 MMT to 59 MMT. The main production increases came from Russia (up 5 MMT from last month to 60 MMT) and Europe (up 3.8 MMT to 150.8 MMT). There was also a small rise in the size of the US all wheat crop, up 0.5 MMT to 55 MMT. "The world harvest will include an above average proportion of low/medium grade supplies," they noted. "While market sentiment remained mostly bearish, concerns about crop quality and the conflict in Ukraine provided underpinning," they added. Iraq are tendering for 180 TMT of feed barley and 120 TMT of corn for Sep/Oct shipment. Sep 14 CBOT Wheat closed at $5.50 1/4, down 6 1/4 cents; Sep 14 KCBT Wheat closed at $6.26 1/4, down 8 3/4 cents; Sep 14 MGEX Wheat closed at $6.15, up 3 cents. For the week that puts Chicago wheat down 1 3/4 cents, with Kansas falling 7 1/4 cents and Minneapolis down 11 3/4 cents.