Chicago | Reuters – U.S. corn futures slumped on poor export demand on Thursday, analysts said, while wheat futures also declined.
Traders were disappointed as the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported weekly U.S. corn export sales of 264,000 tonnes in the week ended Oct. 20. That was below the low end of analysts’ estimates that ranged from 350,000 to 1.075 million tonnes.
“The export sales on corn continue to be anemic,” said Don Roose, president of Iowa-based brokerage U.S. Commodities. “This market is all about the demand.”
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The United States faces competition from South America for export sales to global buyers like China. Much-needed rain improved conditions for 2022/23 corn and wheat crops in drought-hit Argentina, the Buenos Aires grains exchange said.
The most-active corn contract Cv1 on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) finished down 2-3/4 cents at $6.82-1/4 a bushel. Wheat Wv1 settled down 2 cents at $8.38-1/2 a bushel. Soybeans Sv1, meanwhile, ended up 1/2 cent at $13.93-1/2, after the most-active contract reached its highest price in nearly two weeks.
Soyoil BOv1 retreated from a four-month high, with the December contract BOZ2 falling 1.12 cents to close at 72.30 cents per lb. The market was overbought following recent rallies, Roose said.
The USDA said weekly U.S. soybean export sales totalled 1.026 million tonnes, in line with analysts’ forecasts for 800,000 to 1.850 million tonnes. Weekly export sales of U.S. wheat were 533,200 tonnes, above the high end of trade expectations that ranged from 100,000 to 500,000 tonnes.
Traders continue to monitor talks to extend an export corridor for Ukrainian grain on the Black Sea, following Russia’s invasion.
Russia said provisions of the Black Sea grain deal to ease Russian agricultural and fertilixer exports were not being met, and that Moscow was yet to make a decision on whether the agreement should be extended.
– Additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore.
