Soybean futures saw a small bounce, but corn futures fell on favourable Midwest weather outlooks on Wednesday. Wheat ended mixed.
The new-crop December future traded below the US$4/bu mark for the first time in nearly four years, settling just below that benchmark. Forecasts are now calling for cooler and wetter weather for the first part of August, versus earlier outlooks that were hotter and drier. Corn fell even as the EIA reported record ethanol production of 1.109 million barrels per day for the week ended July 16, and the USDA earlier today announced a private export sale of 104,572 tonnes to unknown destinations for 2024-25. September was down 6 cents at $3.82 ¾, and December dropped 5 ¼ cents to $3.99 ¾.
Ideas that China will soon be an aggressive buyer of American supplies helped to boost soybeans. September beans climbed 3 ½ cents to $10.14 ½, and November gained 1 ¼ cents to $10.22 ½.
All three US wheat exchanges were higher earlier in the day today, but only Chicago was able to hold onto its advances into the close. September Chicago was up 3 ¼ cents at $5.27 ¼, September Kansas City eased 1 ¼ cents to $5.49, and September Minneapolis dropped 3 cents to $5.81 ½.
