Chicago Rallies Heading Into Three Day Weekend

Posted by Nogger - a legend in his own mind at 13:17 | Categorized as

17/02/12 -- Soybeans: Mar 12 Soybeans closed at USD12.67 1/2, up 9 1/4 cents; Nov 12 Soybeans closed at USD12.62, up 6 3/4 cents; Mar 12 Soybean Meal closed at USD332.50, up USD1.70; Mar 12 Soybean Oil closed at 53.40, up 35 points. On the week as a whole front month beans gained 38 1/2 cents, meal USD12.50 and oil 87 points. The Argentine Ministry forecast their soybean harvest at 43.5 to 45 MMT compared to the USDA's estimate of 48 MMT. The USDA reported 173,000 MT of beans sold to China for 2011/12 and a further 2.75 MMT of new crop beans also sold to China. In addition to that there was 20,000 MT of soyoil sold to Morocco. The markets are closed Monday for the President's Day holiday.

Corn: Mar 12 Corn closed at USD6.41 3/4, up 5 1/2 cents; Dec 12 Corn closed at USD5.68 1/4, up 1/4 cents. On the week as a whole front month Mar 12 was up 10 cents and Dec 12 up 8 1/2 cents. Following on from yesterday's robust weekly export sales the USDA today announced the sale of 132,000 MT of US corn to South Korea. Funds were said to have bought 8,000 contracts on the day which would have them adding around 15,000 contracts on the week. The USDA Outlook Forum takes place Thursday/Friday next week when we will get a preliminary guide to planting intentions for the spring. A corn area of 94-95 million acres could be on the cards, a sharp increase from the 91.9 million planted in 2011.

Wheat: Mar 12 CBOT Wheat closed at USD6.44, up 15 1/4 cents; Mar 12 KCBT Wheat closed at USD6.89 1/2, up 6 1/2 cents; Mar 12 MGEX Wheat closed at USD8.22 1/4, up 4 1/2 cents. On the week overall nearby Chicago wheat was up 14 cents, Kansas up 13 1/2 cents and Minneapolis 8 cents firmer. The market seems happy that US wheat is now competitive following back to back successes in two Egyptian tenders this week. The USDA announced 120,000 MT of US wheat sold to unknown. Ukraine is virtually out of the market and even Russia has gone quiet too. Saudi Arabia and Iraq tender for wheat this weekend, it will be interesting to see which way that business goes.