Chicago wheat, soybeans, corn lower on ample supplies

Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) wheat, soybean and corn futures closed lower on Thursday, as fund short covering were far less than recent sessions amid adequate global crop supplies and weak demand.

Chicago wheat led declines as the most active wheat contract for March delivery lost 6.25 cents, or 1.33 percent, to close at 4.6225 U.S. dollars per bushel. March corn dropped 1.75 cents, or 0.48 percent, to close at 3.655 dollars per bushel. March soybean shed 2.75 cents, or 0.31 percent, to close at 8.7975 dollars per bushel.

U.S. wheat decreased on Thursday, snapping a two-day rally, as generous world stocks and lackluster demand diverted investors' attention away from funds taking very large short positions in agricultural market. Since this season began on July 1, Egypt, the biggest wheat importer, has bought about 3.7 million tons of wheat in international markets, the slowest pace in three years, according to analysts.

Corn and soybean futures were pressured by increasing production in South America. "South America's crop sizes are growing due to actual harvest yield results in Brazil and favorable weather across Argentina, Paraguay and southern Brazil," said AgResource company, a Chicago-based agricultural research institute.

The weekly ethanol production report released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration Thursday was seen as slightly bearish to corn future as U.S. ethanol stocks continued to surge, even though U.S. ethanol production through the week ending Feb. 12 was up 0.6 percent from the prior week, to 975,000 barrels per day. Enditem