Chicago corn, wheat, soybeans mixed on USDA reports

Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) agricultural commodities closed mixed on Thursday with corn futures slumped amid downbeat stock and seeding reports from the U.S government, while wheat posted strong highs and soybean rose slightly.

The most active corn contract for May delivery lost 15.5 cents, or 4.22 percent, to close at 3.515 U.S. dollars per bushel. Meanwhile, May wheat delivery gained 9.5 cents, or 2.05 percent, to close at 4.735 U.S. dollars per bushel. Soybean for May delivery added 1.75 cents, or 0.19 percent, to close at 9.1075 dollars per bushel.

Chicago corn futures fell sharply after two key reports released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) showed U.S. corn stocks as of March 1, 2016 up 1 percent from a year ago, while U.S. corn planted area in 2016 is estimated at 93.6 million acres, up 6 percent from last year. Analysts noted that the data are higher than expected, which is viewed as bearish to corn futures.

Meanwhile, wheat prices regained their footing on Thursday as USDA said all wheat planted area for 2016 is estimated at 49.6 million acres, down 9 percent from 2015. Spring wheat seeding acreage is surprisingly low, which will help the prices continue to gain until summer weather patterns across the northern Plains are known, according to some analysts.

For soybeans, planted area for the year is estimated at 82.2 million acres, down less than 1 percent from a year earlier, while soybeans stored in all positions on March 1, 2016 totaled 1.53 billion bushels, up 15 percent from last year. The data are a bit better than expected and are seen as somewhat bullish to soybeans.

For March, the most active corn contract for May delivery lost about 1.5 percent, while May wheat added 4.5 percent, and May soybeans gained 5.8 percent. Enditem