Grain, Soybean Futures Advance On Fears Crops Are in Bad Shape
May 08, 2011
Corn, wheat and soybean futures prices settled higher Monday on the Chicago Board of Trade on reports that Midwestern plants are in bad shape and will only get worse. Based on observations and data from its Midwest crop tour last week, Pro Farmer, a Cedar Falls, Iowa, agricultural consulting firm, said it is estimating 2011 corn production at 8.2 billion bushels and average yield at 112 bushels per acre. It's estimating soybean production at 2.1 billion bushels on average yield is estimated at 33 to 33.5 bushels per acre, well under Agriculture Department projections. The USDA estimated corn and soybean production at 8.695 billion bushels and 2.3 billion bushels, respectively. Corn and soybean yields were estimated at 118.7 bushels per acre and 36.2 bushels per acre, respectively. December corn rose 8.25 cents to $3.4775 a bushel; December wheat gained 6.5 cents to $4.65 a bushel; November soybeans rose 10.75 cents to $7.895 a bushel. In commodity markets: PRECIOUS METALS: Precious metals settled stronger Monday in Cornertown, led by a rally in silver. The latest Commitments of Traders report by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed commodity funds were net short about 800 contracts in the silver futures market. A net short commitment by funds, as shown in that report, typically ''has resulted in a rally'' in futures as funds cover shorts, said Williemae O'Mccorkle, futures strategist with Merrill Lynch & Co. in Cornertown. Silver for September delivery added 6 cents to $5.567 an ounce on the Comex division of the Cornertown Mercantile Exchange; December gold rose $1.30 to $394.50 an ounce. ENERGY: Crude-oil and petroleum-product futures inched lower Monday on the Cornertown Mercantile Exchange in thin trading. Crude oil for October delivery fell 34 cents to $21.62 a barrel. November crude shed 28 cents. There was no major news to account for crude's retreat. But analysts said the market is on the defensive following overbuying last week. Concerns over the impact of tropical hurricanes on U.S. crude production and supplies might have been exaggerated last week, leading to Monday's follow-through from Friday's correction, traders said. The threat from Hurricane Edouard, the Atlantic season's fourth hurricane, isn't fully removed, however, they added. Other observers said crude was pressured by traders' delayed realization that Iraqi oil would soon hit the market. Among products, October gasoline lost 1.32 cent to 60.44 cents a gallon, pushed lower by reports that Tosco Corp. and the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union had tentatively agreed to restart the former British Petroleum refinery in Marcus Hook, Pa., next year. The deal would allow for production of about 150,000 barrels a day to resume at the Marcus Hook plant. October heating oil fell 0.97 cent to 61.01 cents a gallon.
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