Mexico City | Reuters — Chicago corn futures reversed session gains to close lower Thursday, with the most-active contract hitting its highest price since February on a boost from Chinese demand.
Wheat futures also closed lower in rangebound trade after earlier gains, pressured by disappointing export data and inter-market spreading against K.C. wheat futures, traders said.
Soybean futures closed down on Thursday as speculators liquidated long positions.
Chicago Board of Trade’s May corn settled down 1-3/4 cent at $6.31-3/4 per bushel (all figures US$). The most-active corn contract hit $6.44 a bushel earlier in the session, its highest since Feb. 28 on sustained demand from Chinese flash sales.
Read Also
Alberta crop conditions improve: report
Varied precipitation and warm temperatures were generally beneficial for crop development across Alberta during the week ended July 8, according to the latest provincial crop report released July 11.
China purchased another 123,000 tonnes of U.S. corn, bringing the total export sales to the country to more than 2.5 million tonnes.
The uptick in Chinese demand is likely driven by the shipping window before Brazil’s safrinha crop and concerns about a shorter 60-day extension of the Black Sea grains corridor, traders said.
“It looks like they’re not going to be able to get the inputs that they had before. It’s just buying food security,” said Don Roose, president of Iowa-based broker U.S. Commodities.
CBOT May soybeans settled down 29 cents at $14.19-1/2 per bushel after falling to $14.15-1/4, the lowest on a continuous chart of the most-active contract since Nov. 18.
May soft red winter wheat settled down 1-1/2 cents at $6.62 per bushel, while K.C. May hard red winter wheat closed up 6-3/4 cents at $8.19-3/4 a bushel on dry conditions.
Investment fund flows in the midst of upheaval in the banking sector are also thought to have contributed to price moves in grains.
The U.S. Agriculture Department said that export sales of wheat in the week ended March 16 totalled 138,600 tonnes, below trade forecasts.
Corn export sales were reported at 3.189 million tonnes, in line with expectations. Export sales of soybeans totalled 351,500 tonnes, below market forecasts.
— Reporting for Reuters by Cassandra Garrison in Mexico City and Karl Plume in Palm Springs; additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore.
