The November 21-25 trading week for the 2011 soybean crop consisted of only three trading days due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Monday trading opened with a statewide average of $11.41, 19 cents under the prior Friday average price (Figure 1). Tuesday had modest improvement before the market moved sharply lower on Wednesday to a closing statewide average of $11.18. The closing statewide average mark was 42 cents under the previous week closing average. Highest reported individual market daily average for the shortened week was $11.68 at West Memphis on Tuesday. All markets remained in the $11.00 to 12.00 range during the period except for Jonesboro at $10.99 and Wynne at $10.78 on Wednesday. The latter report was the lowest individual daily market price for the week. Last weekly trading day quotes for the fourteen Arkansas markets ranged from $10.78 to $11.38 per bushel as the gap widened 5 cents from the previous week.
Fig. 1
Although on a higher level, price movements on the 2011 crop for January delivery moved similar to the cash market. Bookings for January delivery opened Monday with a statewide daily average of $11.53, an 18 cent loss from the previous Friday closing mark. A 5 cent gain on Tuesday was more than wiped out by a sharp decline on Wednesday as the statewide average price fell to $11.29, a 42 cent drop from the prior Friday mark (Figure 2). Individual daily market quotes were topped by West Memphis at $11.74 on Tuesday with Helena at $11.71. The lowest individual daily average during the week was $10.84 at Wynne on Wednesday, the only individual market daily quote under $11.00 across the state. The price margin for the January 2012 delivery market over the 2011 crop cash market remained at 11 cents, $11.18 to 11.29, as both markets fell 42 cents during the shortened week.
Fig. 2
(Market average prices stated in this report are unweighted averages of the state markets surveyed by NASS. Price data was based on USDA LR GR111 Arkansas Daily Grain Reports.)
