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Chicago grains rally on soaring oil prices; soybeans lower

Xinhua, January 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) agricultural commodities closed mixed on Friday with U.S. grains rallying on rebounded oil prices for a second straight session, while soybeans lower amid the decline in Brazilian offers.

The most active corn contract for March delivery rose 3.25 cents, or 0.89 percent, to close at 3.7025 U.S. dollars per bushel. Wheat for March delivery added 0.5 cents, or 0.11 percent, to close at 4.755 dollars per bushel. Meanwhile, March soybean delivery lost 2 cents, or 0.23 percent, to close at 8.765 dollars per bushel.

Chicago corn led the gains on Friday, as soaring crude oil prices, which sharply rose by more than 7 percent for the day, lift hope to investors that demand for corn could improve if refiners blend more corn-based ethanol into U.S. gasoline.

Higher crude oil prices and global stock markets also supported the wheat market for the day.

"The rallies in the macro financial markets provided a bullish tailwind for the initial trading of CBOT corn, soybeans and wheat," said AgResource company, a Chicago-based agricultural research institute.

Soybean futures, however, ended slightly lower Friday as the U.S. soy export outlook is grim based on the aggressive sales of Brazil, a major U.S. rival for soybean production and export. Brazilian soybeans are offered 0.43 dollars a bushel cheaper than the U.S. Gulf for March loadings, according to some traders.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said Friday in its weekly export sales report that for the week ending Jan. 14, the United States witnessed exports of wheat were down 53 from the previous week and 31 percent from the prior four-week average.

Corn exports were down 10 percent from the previous week and 4 percent from the prior four-week average, while soybean export sales rose by 17 percent from the previous week and 5 percent from the prior four-week average, according to the same report.

Analysts noted that for their respective crop years, the U.S. corn, wheat and soybean sales are all still well below the pace of the previous year.

For the week, the most active corn contract for March delivery rose by 1.93 percent, March wheat added 0.37 percent, while March soybeans fell by 0.28 percent. Enditem