Corn, wheat, and soybean futures all ended lower on Thursday, following the release of the USDA’s latest monthly supply-demand update.
Soybeans fell for the fourth straight session after the USDA raised its 2024-25 US soybean ending stocks estimate to 340 million bu, up 25 million from last month and easily above the average pre-report trade guess. The USDA also held its forecast of the 2023-24 Brazil soybean crop unchanged at 155 million tonnes, while traders and analysts were expecting a reduction. May beans fell 5 ½ cents to $11.59 ¼, and November lost a nickel to $11.64 ¼.
The USDA lowered its US corn ending stocks estimate by 50 million bu from last month to 2.122 but traders were expecting a deeper cut. As with soybeans, the USDA also left its Brazil corn production estimate untouched, despite expectations for a downgrade. May corn lost 5 ½ cents to $4.28 ¾, and December dropped 4 ¼ cents to $4.66.
Wheat was undermined as the USDA revised up its 2023-24 US wheat ending stock estimate by 25 million bu to 698 million, above trade ideas. On the other side, global stocks, at 258.3 million tonnes, came in below expectations. May Chicago wheat lost 6 ¾ cents to $5.51 ¾, May Kansas City fell 11 ¼ cents to $5.83 ¼, and May Minneapolis was down 14 ¾ cents at $6.37.
