Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures fell on Friday, touching a one-month low on improving prospects for the crop in the U.S. Plains, traders said.
Corn futures fell on a round of profit-taking after rising in three of the previous four sessions. Soybeans also closed lower, with concerns about demand outweighing a bargain-buying attempt after prices for the most-active contract sagged to a three-week low.
Traders noted slowing activity from soy crushers as well as export buyers.
“High prolonged prices (are) finally starting to trim overall demand as we head into the summer months,” Arlan Suderman, chief commodities economist at StoneX, said in a note to clients.
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The most-active soybean futures contract dropped 3.9 per cent this week, its biggest weekly decline in four months.
Chicago Board of Trade July soybean futures settled down seven cents at $15.26-1/4 a bushel (all figures US$).
CBOT July soft red winter wheat futures were one cent lower at $6.74-1/4 a bushel. The contract bottomed out at $6.65-3/4 a bushel, the lowest on a continuous basis for the most-active contract since April 21.
Scouts on an annual tour of Kansas wheat fields found record yield potential in the top U.S. winter wheat state’s crop after late-season rains.
CBOT July corn was down five cents at $6.59-1/2 a bushel. The contract rose 2.4 per cent this week after plunging 12.1 per cent last week.
Forecasts for good crop weather in the U.S. Midwest added pressure to corn futures.
“The weather is still wet to start the weekend up and down the spine of the Midwest,” Charlie Sernatinger, global head of grain futures at ED+F Man Capital, said in a note to clients.
Warmer temperatures and further showers forecast in the U.S. Midwest in the next three weeks could boost harvest prospects for recently planted corn, traders said.
— Mark Weinraub is a Reuters commodities correspondent in Chicago; additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore.
