DES MOINES, Iowa — On Friday, the CME Group’s soybean market finally benefitted from strong demand, as it ended the week’s trade higher.
At the close, the December corn futures finished 1¾¢ lower at $3.48¾. March futures settled 2¢ lower at $3.62½.
November soybean futures closed 4¢ higher at $9.75¼. January soybean futures ended 4¢ higher at $9.86½.
December wheat futures closed 4½¢ lower at $4.27¼.
December soy meal futures closed unchanged at $312.10. December soy oil futures finished 0.34¢ higher at 34.84¢ per pound.
In the outside markets, the Brent crude oil market is $1.26 higher, the U.S. dollar is higher, and the Dow Jones Industrials are 38 points higher.
Cory Bratland, Kluis Commodities broker, says investors haven’t found what they are looking for.
“Even after another very solid week of weekly export sales for both corn and soybeans, we still have the daunting task of achieving what the USDA has projected. We could easily see some reduction in export demand in future crop production reports,” Bratland stated in a note to customers Friday.
The Commitments of Traders Report will be out at 2 p.m. today.
“Will the funds push their net-short position to 200,000 contracts short for corn? If so, then this isn’t a long-term bearish factor,” Bratland stated in the daily newsletter.
On Friday, the USDA announced fresh export sales. Private exporters reported to the U.S. Department of Agriculture the following activity:
Export sales of 238,000 metric tons of soybeans for delivery to China during the 2017/2018 marketing year.
Export sales of 132,000 metric tons of corn for delivery to Spain during the 2017/2018 marketing year.
On Thursday, the CME Group’s soybean and wheat markets ended the day lower than where they started, while the corn market didn’t move much at all.
At the close, the December corn futures finished ½¢ lower at $3.50. March futures ended ¾¢ lower at $3.64.
November soybean futures closed 4¼ lower at $9.71¼; January soybean futures settled 3¾¢ lower at $9.82½.
December wheat futures ended 3¾¢ lower at $4.31.
December soy meal futures finished $3.30 per short ton lower at $312.10. December soy oil futures closed 0.24¢ higher at 34.50¢ per pound.
In the outside markets, the Brent crude oil market is 36¢ higher, the U.S. dollar is higher, and the Dow Jones Industrials are 94 points higher.
Jason Ward, Northstar Commodity Investment’s director of grains and energy, says the market didn’t use the strong export sales to its advantage today.
“Lately, we have had some investors sell their short positions, creating a little higher trade. But today’s impressive corn and soybean exports weren’t good enough to move the needle. Plus, South America’s soybean planting weather is bearish,” Ward says.
The USDA Weekly Export Sales Report Thursday showed that soybean sales beat expectations, corn sales came in at the high end, and wheat was within.
Corn: 1.384 million metric tons vs. the trade’s expectations of between 800,000 and 1,400,000 mt
Soybeans: 2.129 million mt vs. the trade’s expectations of between 1,200,000 and 1,800,000 mt
Soybean meal: 142,800 mt vs. the trade’s expectations of between 150,000 and 250,000 mt
Wheat: 90,600 mt vs. the trade’s expectations of between 300,000 and 500,000 mt