CHICAGO: Chicago soybean futures ticked lower on profit taking ahead of an expected White House announcement later on Friday of revised US biofuel targets that is expected to be bullish for soybeans, which are often used as a biofuel feedstock.
Wheat and corn were choppy due to uncertainty over the Iran war, with corn also pressured by pre-weekend technical selling. The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade lost 9 cents to USD11.64-3/4 a bushel as of 10:50 a.m. CT (1750 GMT).
“We’re a little weaker on beans, and it’s probably profit-taking before the weekend and headline risk depending on what’s happening with Iran and how negotiations are going,” said Randy Place, analyst at Hightower Report.
Investors have reacted cautiously to US President Donald Trump’s latest comments on talks to end the month-old conflict. Trump said on Thursday that talks to end the war were going “very well” and that he would delay threatened attacks on Iran’s energy plants for another 10 days.
Oil prices turned higher on Friday as traders set Trump’s comments against Iran’s criticism of the US proposals and ongoing disruption to energy markets. Grain and oilseed prices have broadly tracked fluctuations in crude oil during the conflict, reflecting the use of corn and soyoil in biofuels and knock-on effects on crop production from rising energy and fertiliser prices.
CBOT corn was down 2-3/4 cents to USD4.64 a bushel, as grain participants adjust positions before Tuesday’s US Department of Agriculture’s acreage estimates.
Rising costs of fertilizer resulting from the war in the Middle East could shift acreage from corn to soybeans.
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