US wheat futures fell to a two-week low on Friday and corn hit a 2-1/2-week low on technical selling including fund long liquidation, analysts said. Soyabeans were modestly higher, bouncing after the spot March contract hit a six-week low. As of 11:58 a.m. CST (1758 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade March wheat was down 7 cents at $4.31 per bushel after dipping to $4.30, its lowest since Feb. 9.
CBOT March corn was down 2 cents at $3.63-1/2 a bushel. March Soyabeans were up 3/4 cent at $10.12-1/4 a bushel, rebounding after falling to $10.09-1/4, its lowest since Jan. 12. Funds appeared to be trimming big net long, or bought, positions built up in recent weeks. Weekly data from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed non-commercial traders in the week to Feb. 14 built their biggest net long since July in corn, and the second-biggest since July in soyabeans.
Open interest in CBOT corn plunged by more than 29,000 contracts and by more than 22,000 contracts in soyabeans on Thursday as futures declined, an indication of traders exiting long positions. Wheat made the biggest move on a percentage basis on Friday, pressed by bearish fundamentals including hefty global supplies and a forecast for a bumper harvest in Argentina.
Also, US wheat is being priced out of the global export market after a three-month climb in CBOT futures and stiff competition for business following a record global harvest. The government projected a 7 percent decline in US corn production in the 2017/18 marketing year to 14.065 billion bushels, but ending stocks were expected to remain burdensome at more than 2 billion bushels.
For soyabeans, the USDA estimated the 2017/18 crop at 4.180 billion bushels, down 3 percent from the previous year despite an expected increase in plantings, while ending stocks were seen flat at 420 million bushels.
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