US grain and soyabean futures fell in tandem with a sinking stock market on Wednesday, with wheat down more than 3% in its largest slide in more than a month after nearly two weeks of gains fuelled by coronavirus grocery stockpiling.
Soyabeans fell more than 2%, the most in 2-1/2 weeks, and most corn contracts posted fresh life-of-contract lows as worries over burdensome supplies weighed on prices.
News that US President Donald Trump extended coronavirus emergency measures through the end of April drove wheat lower, despite recent strong demand from flour millers and global importers.
A firmer US dollar against a basket of currencies added pressure to grains as it makes dollar-denominated commodities costlier for those holding other currencies.
Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) May soyabean futures fell 23-1/4 cents to $8.62-3/4 a bushel and May wheat dropped 19-3/4 cents to $5.49 a bushel as of 12:49 p.m. CDT (1749 GMT). Technical selling steepened losses in both markets. May corn was down 5-1/4 cents to $3.35-1/2 a bushel, extending prior-session losses fuelled by a larger-than-expected US plantings forecast from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Corn prices have been hammered by falling crude oil markets as demand from ethanol producers, which consume more than a third of the US crop, has fallen sharply.
The US Energy Information Administration on Wednesday said ethanol output fell by 165,000 barrels per day in the past week to 840,000 bpd.
The USDA surprised the corn market on Tuesday by projecting the area to be planted with the crop this year in the United States at 97 million acres, well above an average trade estimate of 94.3 million in a Reuters poll prior to the report. The agency pegged soyabean plantings at 83.510 million acres, below market expectations.
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