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Chicago agricultural commodities settle lower on profit-taking and harvest advance

Xinhua, October 29, 2016 Adjust font size:

Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) grains futures close lower on Friday as investors took profits after recent gains and U.S. crop harvest picked up.

The most active corn contract for December delivery fell 2.5 cents, or 0.7 percent, to 3.55 dollars per bushel. December wheat delivery dropped 6 cents, or 1.45 percent, to 4.085 dollars per bushel. January soybeans fell 13 cents, or 1.27 percent, to 10.12 dollars per bushel.

Soybean prices retreated from a two-month high notched on Thursday as prices for soybean meal fell sharply and recent buying in the market tapered off. Prices for the oilseeds rose to the highest level since late August this week, as optimism over strong export demand and an upswing in prices for soybean oil spurred buying commodity funds.

But doubts emerged Friday about how long the rapid pace of U.S. soybean exports would last, and prices also were buffeted by much weaker prices for soybean meal, an animal-feed ingredient widely fed to chickens and pigs.

Buying also dried up in corn and wheat markets, capping a three-day rally in grain prices. The wheat market had benefited from strong global demand during the week and corn prices saw a friendly bout of investor short covering, but both markets succumbed Friday amid weakness in soybean prices and positioning by traders near the end of the month.

The United States has been the dominant global soybean exporter for months amid limited supplies in South America. Farmers in Argentina and Brazil were enjoying largely benign conditions early in the growing season, even as parts of Argentina had excessive rainfall.

Global wheat supplies were more burdensome and U.S. wheat has struggled to compete with Russia due to freight costs for shipments into northern Africa and Middle East, including top importer Egypt. Endit