Chicago Soybean Futures Rise for a Fifth Straight Session on Friday

In the overnight session the grains traded higher with corn up 1 ½ cents, soybeans up 3 ¾ cents, Chicago wheat up ¾ cent and Kansas City wheat up 1 ¾ cents.

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Ethanol production rebounded sharply this week with production increasing to 1.061 million bushels per day, up from 996 bpd recorded last week. The warmer temperatures across the US helped lower the stress on the supply and distribution logistics. The rebound brought production back above last years pace during the same week. Ethanol stocks were mostly steady at 955 million gallons compared to 954 million gallons last week. Ethanol stocks are still seasonally very strong at about 7.7 percent above last years levels.

Yesterday it was announced by the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange that 2017-18 soybean plantings estimates may be revised lower again due to the dryness in the northwestern parts of Argentina. This region represents roughly 30 percent of soybean plantings and they are behind schedule getting the crop into the ground.

Export sales were strong this morning for corn and soybeans but wheat missed analyst expectations. Corn sales booked 1.888 million metric tons this week which was up significantly from the previous week and well over analyst expectations. Soybean export sales increased by 31 percent over last week, beating expectations and booking 1.240 million metric tons. Wheat sales were disappointing compared to expectations but was higher than last weeks totals.

Weekly Export Sales-

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