CHICAGO: Chicago soybean futures extended losses on Friday following publication of the US Department of Agriculture’s supply and demand report that raised the agency’s forecast for soybean production. Corn briefly turned higher before paring gains. The USDA lowered its estimate for the nation’s corn harvest after summertime heat led to concerns about crop damage.
The most-traded soybeans on the Chicago Board of Trade settled 35-3/4 cents, or 2.7percent, lower at USD12.96-1/2 per bushel, dropping from a roughly three-year high set earlier in the session.
Corn settled 3-1/2 cents lower at USD5.30-1/4 per bushel. CBOT wheat settled 16 cents lower at USD7.25-1/4 per bushel after the agency sidestepped making changes to Black Sea wheat exports.
REPORT IN LINE WITH EXPECTATIONS
Farmers will harvest 15.8 billion bushels of corn this autumn, with an average yield of 178.5 bushels per acre, and 4.535 billion bushels of soybeans, with an average yield of 52.8 bushels per acre, the agency said in a monthly report.
Analysts expected a corn crop of 15.785 billion bushels and a yield of 178.2 bushels per acre, and a soybean crop of 4.501 billion bushels, with an average yield of 52.5 bushels per acre, according to a Reuters poll.
Soybean futures jumped to their highest in roughly three years on support from Chinese demand. China’s purchase of US beans before the upcoming meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping provided a floor to prices. China has bought around 1 million metric tons of US soybeans this week, traders told Reuters.
The purchases take China’s total US soybean buying to nearly half of the 25 million tons the White House said Beijing had committed to annually through 2028. Renewed diplomatic efforts to end Russia’s war with Ukraine have weighed on grain prices.
However, more Russian attacks on Thursday, including one on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro that damaged a vegetable oil factory of US agrifood group Bunge, kept attention on disruption to the massive Black Sea grain trade.
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