Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures fell to life-of-contract lows on Friday, pressured by disappointing weekly export sales data and plentiful global supplies, analysts said. Corn and soyabeans futures followed wheat lower, bucking support from strength in crude oil and a weaker dollar, which tends to make US grains more competitive globally. Trade in CBOT grains will close early Friday at 12:05 pm CDT (1805 GMT) following Thursday's US Thanksgiving holiday. As of 10:59 am CST (1659 GMT), CBOT December wheat was down 7-3/4 cents at $4.15 a bushel after dipping to $7.14-3/4, a contract low.
CBOT December corn was down 2-1/2 cents at $3.42-3/4 a bushel while January soyabeans were down 3 cents at $9.94-1/4 a bushel. Wheat sagged after weekly export sales of US wheat fell below a range of trade expectations, reflecting stiff competition for export business amid plentiful global supplies.
The US Department of Agriculture reported export sales of old-crop US wheat in the latest week at 199,845 tonnes, the smallest tally in six weeks. Analysts had expected sales of 350,000 to 550,000 tonnes.
Corn followed wheat lower and soyabeans turned down, retreating from early advances. Adding pressure to prices, analysts noted forecasts for beneficial rains in crop areas of Argentina. The USDA reported weekly export sales of US corn at 1,106,400 tonnes (old and new crop years combined), in line with trade expectations.
The USDA's weekly sales tally for soyabeans fell below 1 million tonnes, below a range of trade expectations, but sales of soyameal, at 379,800 tonnes, topped expectations, helping lift CBOT December soyameal to record a one-month high of $327 per short ton.
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