Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade corn futures closed lower after hitting their highest price since August on Friday, while soybean futures retreated from a one-month high.
Traders took profits after the markets rose earlier on concerns about a drought in Brazil disrupting grain shipments on rivers and slowing soy plantings, analysts said. Technical buying and hopes for additional U.S. export demand also supported futures earlier in the session.
U.S. farmers with crops to sell welcomed a temporary return of corn prices above $5 a bushel as many continue to harvest their fields, bringing fresh supplies to the market (all figures US$).
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But most-active corn futures ended below that key price level, with the December contract falling 9-1/2 cents to $4.95-1/2 a bushel. The market earlier reached $5.09-1/2, its highest price since Aug. 2.
“Corn was up overnight, and tried to stay that way early in the day session, but fell off hard late on harvest hedging and chart selling,” Charlie Sernatinger, executive vice president of Marex Capital Markets, said in a note.
Soybean futures touched $13.18-1/2 a bushel, its highest price since Sept. 21, before closing 13-1/4 cents lower at $13.02-1/4. Soymeal reached its highest price since June.
Farmer sales of soybeans have accelerated in recent days, with strength in the futures market and basis gains combining to push cash prices above $13 a bushel in many areas, an Iowa dealer said. However, some growers continue to hold out for even higher prices.
“We’re not selling,” said Sherman Newlin, an Illinois farmer and analyst with Risk Management Commodities. “We’re waiting for basis to improve, which it seems to be a little bit.”
In CBOT wheat, most-active futures settled down eight cents at $5.86 a bushel after touching their highest price in five weeks at $6.04-1/2.
Almost half of Argentina’s 2023-24 wheat crop is in fair to poor condition due to the lack of rainfall currently affecting core agricultural areas, the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange said Thursday.
— Reporting for Reuters by Tom Polansek in Chicago; additional reporting by Naveen Thukral and Sybille de La Hamaide.
