Chicago Close
26/08/11 -- Soybeans: Sep 11 Soybeans closed at USD14.14 3/4, up 28 3/4 cents; Nov 11 Soybeans closed at USD14.23 1/2, up 30 3/4 cents; Sep 11 Soybean Meal closed at USD376.00, up USD8.00; Sep 11 Soybean Oil closed at 56.60, up 100 points. Initial disappointment that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke didn't hint at a third wave of QE in the US didn't last long as fund buying (estimated at 8,000 soybean contracts on the day) pushed beans through what had hitherto proven to be stubborn resistance at USD14/bu. Beans finished 55 cents higher on the week, with meal up USD21.90 and oil rising 121 points.
Corn: Sep 11 Corn closed at USD7.52 1/2, up 20 1/4 cents; Dec 11 Corn closed at USD7.67, up 23 1/2 cents. On the week overall Sep was 41 1/2 cents and Dec up 41 3/4 cents. Funds were said to have bought a whopping 20,000 contracts on the day, roughly doubling their previous purchases from earlier in the week. After the close the ProFarmer crop tour was expected to reveal significantly lower potential yields than the USDA's latest estimate. Above normal temperatures are what is in the forecast for the next fourteen days. The USDA announced the sale of 243,840 MT of corn to unknown for 2011/12 and 121,920 MT for 2012/13 delivery.
Wheat: Sep 11 CBOT Wheat closed at USD7.62 1/4, up 5 cents; Sep 11 KCBT Wheat closed at USD8.66, up 18 1/4 cents; Sep 11 MGEX Wheat closed at USD9.56 1/4, up 21 1/2 cents. Chicago was 31 1/2 cents higher on the week, with Kansas up 47 cents and Minneapolis gaining 11 cents. The US Drought Monitor indicates “exceptional” drought in Texas, Oklahoma into southern Kansas. "Indeed the 6 months January through June was the driest such period on record in Texas. It is ominous for winter wheat planting in late September- October," say Martell Crop Projections.