Soybeans were lower on technical and fund selling, along with spillover from the outside markets. Crude oil was higher, but the dollar was up and the Dow and gold were lower. Weekly export sales and shipments were both good but neither had any real impact as traders remain very concerned about debt issues. Soybean meal was mixed, nearly steady in consolidation trade, while bean oil was down sharply on demand concerns. China’s Ministry of Commerce sees Beijing’s soybean imports for November at 5.63 million tons, that’d be up 48% on the month and about 3% on the year, and pegs December at 4.175 million tons.

Corn was lower on fund and technical selling, in addition to the outside market pressure. There was no fresh news for corn either, but contracts did see at least some buying interest around key support points. Past that – weekly export sales were at the low end of estimates and shipments were solid. Ethanol futures were lower. According to Ukraine’s Ag Ministry, 92% of the corn crop is harvested at 20.4 million tons with yield considerably better than 2010. The International Grains Council pegs 2011/12 world corn production at 853.1 million tons, up 3.2% on the year, with the U.S. total at 313 million and South America producing 87 million tons.

The wheat complex was lower on fund and technical selling, in addition to spillover from the outside markets. The supply and demand fundamentals remain bearish, especially on the global supply side of the ledger. Weekly export sales were larger than expected but shipments remain slow. European wheat was modestly higher in thin trade. According to Dow Jones Newswires, Argentina will release another 1.4 million tons worth of 2010/11 wheat export permits next week, along with 3 million tons of recently harvested 2011/12 wheat. Ukraine’s Ag Ministry reports 98% of the total grain crop is harvested at 55.99 million tons with USDA’s ag attaché in Kiev adding cold, dry conditions could damage a significant portion of the winter planted crops.