Corn Last Week Slightly Higher, Beans Lower

Last week was a fairly active week for corn. Monday was a big down day and Wednesday it was an up day. By the close Friday March corn was 2-3/4 cents higher for the week and new crop December gained 3-1/2 cents. Corn continued to be supported by great demand domestically and on the export front. There were a number of daily corn sales announcements from the USDA  in addition to good weekly sales on Thursday. Going forward traders will be focusing on the soybean harvest in Brazil. After the bean harvest Brazilian farmers are projected to plant a record number of corn acres.

Beans saw an active week, too, with big losses Monday. While beans were higher Wednesday they did not recover all of Monday's losses. For the week, March beans lost 22 1/4 cents new crop November lost 12 1/5 cents. Even though the weather in Argentina has been less than ideal traders think the crop in Brazil will more than make up for any production losses in Argentina. We sure have heard that argument before haven't we? This is likely making is difficult for any sustained rally in beans. The great demand for beans from the United States has continued to provide underlying support.