Corn and Beans End 2017 Quietly

Corn finished out the 2017 year with a whimper losing 1 to 2 cents a bushel. It was ironic that the nearby March contract was only 2 cents lower than one year ago. So, it may be a moral victory for corn that it is only 2 cents a bushel lower than one year ago when you consider all the bearish news that is being talked about by traders and the commercials! The weekly export sale released last Friday had a very good number at 1.245 MMT sold for this marketing year and another 102,900 MT sold for the 2018/19 season. Hopefully that is a sign that corn export sales are picking up the pace.

Beans did manage to close out the last day of 2017 with small gains of 4 to 6 cents a bushel. The USDA Export Sales report saw a good soybean number too at 974,700 MT for this marketing year and another 81.300 MT for the 2018/19 year. Bean meal and oil also had very good export sales numbers. Remember the markets are still closed for the New Year's Holiday. When they open at 8:30 this morning traders will focus on how much it rained in South America over the weekend and the forecast.