Corn, wheat, and soybean futures all finished the week with solid gains.
Posting its first daily gain in a week, corn was supported by demand factors. The US Environmental Protection Agency today issued an emergency waiver to allow sales of E15 this summer. The waiver overrides the current policy that prohibits summer sales beginning on June 1 from retailers and should result in additional corn demand for ethanol production. Also today, the USDA announced a private export sale of 216,500 tonnes of US corn to Mexico. May corn was up 6 ¾ cents to $4.33 ½, and December added 6 ¼ cents to $4.66 ¼.
Soybeans got a lift from advances in soyoil and soymeal, with export demand also supporting the market. A private export sale of121,500 tonnes of US soybeans was reported by the USDA to unknown destinations this morning. May beans climbed 16 ¼ cents to $11.50 ½, and November was up 11 ¾ cents at $11.61.
Wheat was boosted by weather-related short covering, with conditions for winter wheat crops in the US southern Plains and southern Russia unfavourably dry. March Chicago closed 13 ½ cents higher at $5.50 ¼, March Kansas City was up 4 ¼ cents to $5.81 ½, and March Minneapolis closed 8 ¼ cents higher at $6.47.
