Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures fell to their lowest in 7-1/2 months on Thursday, under pressure from expectations that the U.S. government will raise its domestic production forecast, traders said.
Wheat futures sank 2.4 per cent to their lowest in more than a month on follow-through technical selling after a Canadian report on Wednesday that showed bigger-than-expected supplies triggered a bearish reaction in the market.
“We broke short-term key support on wheat and we just accelerated down,” said Mark Schultz, chief market analyst at Northstar Commodity.
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Soybean futures also were weaker, bottoming out at their lowest since June 25, as traders staked out positions ahead of a U.S. Department of Agriculture monthly crop report.
“Beans stayed under pressure all day on expectations of a bearish report tomorrow,” Charlie Sernatinger, global head of grain futures at ED+F Man Capital, said in a note to clients.
Chicago Board of Trade December corn futures settled down 1/4 cent at $5.10 a bushel (all figures US$). On a continuous basis, the most-active contract hit its lowest since Jan. 25 on Thursday morning but closed well above that bottom.
CBOT November soybeans were down nine cents at $12.70-1/2 a bushel and CBOT December wheat was 17-1/4 cents lower at $6.92-1/4 a bushel.
Chicago futures also remained pressured by concerns over exports after storm disruption to U.S. Gulf grain terminals and strength in the dollar this week.
Disruption to exports after Hurricane Ida damaged export terminals around the U.S. Gulf Coast were also hanging over the market, though analysts expect logistics to improve in time for peak U.S. corn and soybean loadings later in the year.
Asia’s grain and oilseed buyers are set to face shipping delays of at least one month.
— Mark Weinraub is a Reuters commodities correspondent in Chicago; additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore.
