Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) corn futures eased on technical selling on Wednesday, as market participants sought profits and assessed U.S. spring planting, analysts said.
U.S. farmers plan to reduce corn plantings by about 1.2 per cent this year, and expand their soybean plantings by about 2.7 per cent, according to a survey issued on Wednesday by commodity brokerage Allendale.
The shifts in acreage come as grower incomes are expected to decline this year as corn, soybean and wheat CBOT futures have dropped to their lowest levels in more than three years.
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Corn futures also faced pressure from reports of hot, dry weather in Brazil that could deplete the country’s second corn crop, and Brazilian crop agency CONAB lowered its projections, traders said.
Meanwhile, CBOT wheat futures drifted lower on hefty global supplies and spillover weakness in the corn market, traders said.
Soy futures firmed late in the session, ending the day up, after reports that Argentina’s main agricultural area will likely receive more precipitation, adding to already significant recent rainfall and could leave fields too wet for harvesting in some areas.
Short positions held by investors have made grains prone to waves of short-covering, too.
Still, traders spent much of the day “just hopping back and forth and looking for direction,” said Jack Scoville, vice president of the Price Futures Group.
Most-active CBOT corn Cv1 settled down 1/2-cent at $4.41-1/4 a bushel, while wheat Wv1 was down 3-1/4 cents at $5.44-1/4 a bushel after reaching a one-week high on Tuesday.
CBOT soybean Sv1 settled up 3/4-cent at $11.96-3/4 a bushel.
—Additional reporting for Reuters by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Peter Hobson in Canberra.
