August 14, 2007

 

CBOT Corn Review on Monday: End mixed; struggles to find direction

 

 

Chicago Board of Trade corn futures ended mixed Monday, chopping around in quiet trade, struggling to find direction amid an absence of fresh fundamental news.

 

September corn ended 2 cents lower at US$3.31, and December finished 1 1/2 cents lower at US$3.49.

 

The market struggled in the absence of fresh news to find direction, analysts said. Supportive weather in the southern Midwest and Delta helped underpin prices, but analysts said corn crop development is far enough along that weather impacts have limited effects on prices.

 

The market did garner mild support from double digit gains in soybeans, higher wheat prices and outlooks for a continuation of declining crop ratings. Nevertheless, the market took the role of a follower, torn between the ups and downs of wheat and double digit gains in soybeans, traders said.

 

Meanwhile, solid underlying demand remained a supportive feature, with traders looking ahead to the weekly crop conditions report, with analysts anticipating another decline in ratings from 1 to 3 percentage points.

 

U.S. Department of Agriculture is scheduled to release its weekly crop progress report Monday at 4:00 p.m. EDT.

 

In other news, the USDA reported 42.635 million bushels of corn were inspected for export in the week ended Aug. 9. The export figure is up 62.1% from the previous week's 26.296 million bushels. Analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires projected the inspections to fall within a range of 29 million to 47 million. Accumulated corn inspections totaled 1.926 billion bushels, up from the 1.925 million bushels reported at the same time last year.

 

Meanwhile, the DTN Meteorlogix weather forecast calls for the Midwest from central Missouri south to continue under the influence of mostly dry and hot conditions, which increase stress on filling crops. The Delta will have hot and dry weather for at least the next seven days.

 

In contrast, rainfall of more than one inch occurred in the western and northern Midwest during the weekend - from eastern Nebraska through southern Minnesota and in the immediate Great Lakes area. This sector of the Midwest has a much more favorable crop situation, Meteorlogix reports.

 

In pit trades, Tenco and Fimat each bought 300 December, with JP Morgan a seller of 400 December. Speculative funds were estimated buyers of 2,000 lots.

 

CBOT oat futures ended mixed Monday. Activity was slow during the session, but there was some pressure from the start of harvest in Canada, traders said. September oats rose 1 cent per bushel to US$2.50 1/4 per bushel, and December finished down 1 1/2 cents at US$2.59.

 

Ethanol futures settled mixed. September ethanol ended up 0.025 cent at US$1.859 per gallon and October settled 0.001 cent lower at US$1.750.