Chicago Grains Closing Comments - Friday
08/07/16 -- Soycomplex: Soybeans closed sharply higher on the day, consolidating some of the week's losses ahead of the weekend. Nevertheless the complex still showed significant declines for the week. Weekly export sales came in at 1.223 MMT, which was towards the top end of trade estimates. The USDA reported 35,000 MT of US soy oil sold to China this morning for 2015/16 delivery under the daily reporting system. A warmer forecast from the middle of the month onwards added a bit of risk premium back into the market today. Jul 16 Soybeans settled at $10.89 3/4, up 35 1/2 cents; Nov 16 Soybeans settled at $10.57 3/4, up 33 cents; Jul 16 Soybean Meal settled at $378.70, up $8.70; Jul 16 Soybean Oil settled at 30.27, up 54 points. For the week nearby beans were down 79 cents, meal fell $26.10 and oil was down 76 points.
Corn: The corn market posted decent gains, but still ended with small losses for the week. A hot and dry forecast for the second half of the month encouraged some buying today. Weekly export sales of 812,995 MT were at the lower end of trade forecasts. The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange said that the Argentine corn harvest was 44.6% complete at 13.5 MMT. The weak peso seems to be discouraging farmers there from selling at the moment. FCStone cut their estimate for the size of the Brazilian second corn crop by 2.1 MMT to 47.3 MMT. They now see the total Brazilian corn crop at 74 MMT versus 76.64 MMT previously. Brussels approved 156 TMT of EU corn import licences in the first week of 2016/17. Jul 16 Corn settled at $3.49 3/4, up 14 1/4 cents; Sep 16 Corn settled at $3.55, up 13 1/4 cents. For the week Jul 16 was 3 1/4 cents lower.
Wheat: The wheat market closed firmer. Weekly export sales of 825,325 MT topped pre-report estimates. FranceAgriMer cut French winter wheat ratings by 6 points for the second week running. Taiwan bought 106,290 MT of US milling wheat for Aug/Sep shipment. The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange said that Argentine winter wheat planting is 72% complete of the planned 4.5 million ha versus 81% done on the planned 3.6 million ha a year ago. Weekly export licence releases by Brussels were only a fraction of what they were 12 months ago in the first week of the new marketing year - soft wheat at 209 TMT down 55% and barley at 193 TMT down 53%. Russia's new crop wheat harvest stands at 6.4 MMT so far and Ukraine's at 1.61 MMT. The US winter wheat harvest is ongoing and should be reported at around 75% complete by the USDA on Monday night. Yields are said to be very good in general. Jul 16 CBOT Wheat settled at $4.20 3/4, up 8 3/4 cents; Jul 16 KCBT Wheat settled at $4.05 1/4, up 8 3/4 cents; Sep 16 MGEX Wheat settled at $5.01, up 5 3/4 cents. For the week CBOT wheat was up 4 1/2 cents.