Chicago wheat higher, corn, soybeans lower on soft U.S. export sales

Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) agricultural commodities closed mixed Thursday with wheat rising, corn and soybeans falling on less-than-expected U.S. weekly export sales of corn and soybeans.

The most active corn contract for May delivery lost 2.5 cents, or 0.64 percent, to close at 3.885 U.S. dollars per bushel. Wheat for May delivery added 8.25 cents, or 1.65 percent, to close at 5. 0725 dollars per bushel. May soybeans dropped 2.25 cents, or 0.23 percent, to close at 9.905 dollars per bushel.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said Thursday in its weekly export report that for the week ending March 5, the United States witnessed net sales of 445,200 metric tons (MT) of wheat for delivery in the 2014/2015 marketing year, 5 percent down from the previous week, but up 21 percent from the prior four-week average.

Corn export sales were 418,000 MT, down 50 percent from the previous week and 52 percent from the prior four-week average, while soybeans sales were at 167,900 MT, down 66 percent and 70 percent, respectively, the report said.

The figures pointed to the struggling U.S. corn and soybeans export amid cheaper offers from Ukraine and Latin America, experts said.

Meanwhile, wheat futures rose for a fifth straight session on technical buying. "The close proximity of a key USDA Crop Report on March 31 likely added to the anxiousness of the market. The rally in wheat and support for the rest of the CBOT floor is all about fund buy stops in wheat," said AgResource company, a Chicago- based agricultural research institute.

Mexico and other major countries on Thursday imposed import restrictions after the USDA confirmed an outbreak of avian flu in a flock of turkeys in Boone County, Arkansas, near the headquarters of Tyson Food Inc., the world's leading chicken producer in the United States. The restrictions were likely to hurt U.S. poultry producers and the consumption of corn and soymeal, analysts said. Endite