Corn futures closed lower on Thursday, while soybeans managed small gains and wheat ended mixed.
Corn was weighed down by good US prospects and a lack of threatening weather in the forecast that could throw a wrench into what now appears to be a bumper crop. The International Grains Council today raised its estimate of 2024-25 global corn production by 2 million tonnes from last month to 1.225 billion tonnes, with the US among those countries seeing upward revisions. The USDA’s weekly export sales report was mixed for corn, with old-crop bookings for the week ended July 11 below trade expectations but new crop at a marketing year high. September was down 6 ¾ cents at $3.91 ¼, and December lost 6 ¾ cents to $4.05.
Soybeans managed move higher on export demand. USDA reported a rather large export sale of 510,00 tonnes of soybeans to unknown destinations for 2024-25 shipment in this morning’s flash sale announcement. Meanwhile, the weekly export sales report showed combined old- and new-crop bookings for the week ended July 11 at over 735,000 tonnes, nearly double the previous week. August beans inched up 1 ¼ cents to $10.98 ½, and November gained 2 cents to $10.43.
Weekly export sales for wheat were on the high end of trade expectations. On the other hand, the International Grains Council raised its estimate of 2024-25 global wheat production to 801 million tonnes, up a hefty 8 million from last month. September Chicago was down 4 cents at $5.35 ¼, September Kansas City gained 1 ¾ cents to $5.62 ¾, and September Minneapolis was up 8 ¾ cents at $6.00 ½.
