Traders returned from the US Juneteenth holiday in a selling mood, with corn, wheat, and soybean futures all finishing lower.
Wheat was pressured by profit taking, after all three markets posted strong gains on Wednesday amid US winter wheat wet weather harvest delays and overly dry conditions for the EU crop. The USDA’s weekly export sales report – delayed from Thursday by the Juneteenth holiday – showed bookings of US wheat for the the week ended June 12 at just over 427,000 tonnes, in the middle of trade expectations. July Chicago was down 6 ½ cents at $5.67 ¾, July Kansas City lost 8 cents to $5.63 ¼, and July Minneapolis dropped 7 ½ cents to $6.38 ¾.
Soybeans were also pressured by profit taking after futures closed higher for five straight days. Old- and new-crop soybean export sales, at 539,511 and 75,151 tonnes, respectively, fell in the middle of trade ideas. July soybeans were down 6 ¾ cents at $10.68 and November closed 7 ½ cents lower at $10.60 ¾.
Corn fell amid generally good Midwest conditions. Although extremely hot weather is on the way, soil moisture in many areas is considered ample. Weekly export sales for old-crop corn came in at 903,792 tonnes, in the middle of trade projections. New-crop business was reported at just under 155,000 tonnes, higher than expected. The USDA also announced a sale of 124,000 tonnes of corn to “Unknown destinations” under the daily reporting system this morning. July lost 4 ¾ cents to $4.28 ¾, and December dipped 2 ¾ cents to $4.41 ¼.
