CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures fell more than 1% on Friday, dipping back below $12 a bushel on profit taking a day after the benchmark contract neared a two-month high, with farmer soy sales and a surge in the dollar adding to bearish sentiment, analysts said. Wheat futures were higher while corn was little changed in choppy trade.
As of 12:45 p.m. CDT (1745 GMT), CBOT May soybeans were down 19-1/2 cents, or 1.6%, at $11.92-1/2 per bushel. May corn was down 3/4 cent at $4.40 a bushel while May wheat was up 8-1/2 cents at $5.55-1/4 a bushel.
Soybeans retreated after a two-session climb. Rallies this week spurred soy sales by farmers in the United States and South America, analysts said.
“The grain and oilseed sector is mostly lower on a stronger dollar and increased farmer selling, especially in Brazil,” StoneX chief commodities economist Arlan Suderman wrote in a client note. Others attributed market pressure to forecasts for beneficial rains in portions of the Midwest crop belt ahead of spring planting.
Rains and snow were forecast over the weekend in Iowa, a top producer of corn and soybeans, where nearly 20% of the state is in extreme drought, according to the latest weekly US Drought Monitor report. “The drought in Iowa has been building up all winter, and we’re finally getting the bullseye in terms of the rain,” Randy Place, analyst with Hightower Report, said.
CBOT wheat firmed, following as European wheat futures rose on renewed concerns about disruption to Black Sea supplies given rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine, traders said.
Some noted support from the European Commission proposing tariffs on grain imports from Russia and Belarus in an attempt to prevent Moscow and its ally from distorting EU markets.
However, traders stressed that Russian and Belarusian shipments to the bloc are low relative to those from Ukraine, and that the imposition of tariffs was largely symbolic.
Meanwhile, the US Department of Agriculture confirmed private sales of 263,000 metric tons of US corn to Mexico. Traders continue to adjust their positions ahead of the USDA’s March 28 US planting intentions and quarterly stocks reports, which have a history of jolting markets.
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