Corn and soybean futures ended slightly weaker on Thursday, with wheat also posting losses.
Weak export demand weighed on the wheat market, with recent price gains making American supplies more uncompetitive in the world market. Today’s USDA weekly export sales report showed U.S. wheat export sales for the week ended April 30 at 78,772 tonnes for old crop, the second lowest of the marketing year and below the range of trade estimates. On the other hand, new-crop sales of 187,538 were near the top of expectations. July Chicago fell a nickel to $6.12 ¼, and July Kansas City lost 19 ¾ cents to $6.67 ¼. July Hard Red Spring was down 17 ½ cents at $6.76, and July Minneapolis lost 18 ¼ cents to $6.73 ¾.
For soybeans, weekly export sales were reported at just under 142,000 tonnes, a marketing year low and below the range of trade guesses. New-crop bookings of 5,500 tonnes were at the low end of expectations. July beans slipped 2 ½ cents to $11.92 ¼, and November dropped 2 cents to $11.73 ½.
Weekly export sales of corn were reported at 1.36 million tonnes for old crop, in the middle of trade guesses. New-crop bookings of 122,778 tonnes were at the top of expectations. July corn lost a penny to $4.67 ½, and December was down a ½ cent at $4.89 ½.
Crude oil settled a bit lower today after another volatile trading session driven by geopolitical headlines and shifting risk sentiment.
