Corn fell 1 percent early on Friday, and soyabeans were also weaker, due to ample supplies and a stronger dollar, which made US exports pricier. US wheat hit a contract low before prices rose slightly due to bargain-buying, traders said. The nearby contract was on course for a weekly loss of 5.5 percent.
Spread trades between grains involved selling corn and buying wheat to partly correct corn's price gains over wheat in the previous session, said Terry Linn, broker and analyst at The Linn Group in Chicago. Chicago Board of Trade May corn was off 1.2 percent or 4-1/2 cents at $3.86 per bushel as of 9:53 am CST (1553 GMT). The nearby March contract was down 1.4 percent over the week.
Soyabeans eased for a fifth straight session to a new three-week low as easing disruption from a truckers' strike in Brazil kept the focus on an expected bumper harvest in South America that could curb US exports. "Beans have been under pressure every single day this week," Linn said, adding that traders were erasing soyabeans' gains from February. "Fundamentally, nothing has very much changed since the start of February to today. You still have record crops ... and that should weigh on this market."
CBOT May soyabeans ticked down 0.4 percent or 3-3/4 cents to $9.81-3/4. The nearby March contract was down 5.4 percent for the week. Investors looked ahead to March 10 supply/demand estimates from the US Department of Agriculture. Chicago May wheat edged up 0.7 percent or 3-1/4 cents to $4.83-3/4 a bushel, after earlier slipping to a contract low of $4.78-1/4.
US wheat is struggling to find business as European exporters such as France and Germany win demand in the Middle East and Africa, aided by euro weakness. The dollar was up 1.2 percent against a basket of currencies. But some analysts said US wheat might find a footing. "US wheat was too expensive but at $4.80 we don't see much reason to go lower unless the USDA report throws up a surprise," Alexis Poullain of French consultancy Agritel said.
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