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Chicago agricultural commodities close mixed

Xinhua, January 21, 2017 Adjust font size:

Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) grains futures settled mixed on Friday with corn futures touching a six-month high buoyed by robust demand from exporters and ethanol producers.

The most active corn contract for March delivery rose 3.5 cents, or 0.96 percent, to 3.6975 dollars per bushel. March wheat delivery rose 4.75 cents, or 1.12 percent, to 4.2825 dollars per bushel. March soybeans dropped 2.75 cents, or 0.26 percent, to 10.675 dollars per bushel.

Corn got a boost when the U.S. Department of Agriculture's weekly export sales report put corn sales at nearly 1.4 million tons, topping a range of trade expectations.

The USDA also said private exporters in the last day sold 126,312 tons of U.S. corn to unknown destinations.

The export figures came on the heels of government data released Thursday that showed U.S. production of corn-based ethanol reaching a record-high for the third straight week.

Wheat followed corn higher, although weekly wheat export sales fell below trade expectations. Commodity funds hold a large net short position in CBOT wheat, leaving the market vulnerable to bouts of short-covering.

Soybean futures drifted lower on profit-taking and what appeared to be long liquidation after a rally this week to six-month highs.

However, for the week, CBOT March soybeans rose about 2 percent, buoyed by floods in Argentina that have raised concern about soy crop prospects. Traders continue to assess the extent of damage.

The Rosario grains exchange on Thursday cut its forecast for the 2016-17 Argentine soybean crop to 52.9 million tons from 54.4 million tons previously because of bad weather. Endit