Off the wire
• Modern missile systems to account for 72 pct by end of year: Putin  • Namibia launches online business service program  • U.S. stocks close higher, rebound from biggest selloff this year  • Macedonia's SDSM party kicks off talks for gov't formation  • Single gene variant reduces severe malaria risk by 40 percent: study  • Portuguese police seize 10 tonnes of hashish in Mediterranean Sea  • UN commission urges Africa's economic transformation on industrialization  • Iraqi forces push further in western Mosul amid heavy clashes  • Ethiopian Airlines to start flights to Chengdu of China  • PSG defender Meunier undergoes successful left ankle surgery  
You are here: 　 Home

Chicago agricultural commodities settle lower

Xinhua, May 18, 2017 Adjust font size:

Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) grains futures closed lower on Thursday with soybeans posting the biggest single-day loss since last August.

The most active corn contract for July delivery fell 5.5 cents, or 1.48 percent, to 3.66 dollars per bushel. July wheat delivery was down 1.25 cents, or 0.29 percent, to close at 4.2575 dollars per bushel. July soybeans slumped by 31 cent, or 3.18 percent, to 9.4475 dollars per bushel.

U.S. soybean futures fell sharply as Brazil's currency lost nearly 7 percent to 3.35 per U.S. dollar as of 1530 GMT on Thursday.

The plunge took place after the biggest newspaper in Brazil claimed that President Michel Temer was caught on tape authorizing bribes for a potential witness to remain silent in a graft probe. This report has led to a sudden political turmoil in the country.

Brazil has recorded this year its largest-ever soybean harvest, estimated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture at 111.6 million tonnes. Brazilian farmers who had sold only about half of it by early May will probably hurry up with large sales amid decline in their currency, thus put big pressure on U.S. soybeans.

CBOT corn and wheat followed soybeans lower. Endit