CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures climbed on Friday on follow-through buying after the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) cut its 2022 US crop outlook a day earlier and as Argentina’s crop remains stressed by drought, traders said.
Positioning ahead of the long weekend, with markets closed on Monday for the Martin Luther King Day holiday, supported prices. CBOT March soybeans settled 9-1/4 cents higher at $15.27-3/4 per bushel. The contract was up 0.6% in the week.
CBOT March soymeal ended $5.00 lower at $476.30 per short ton. CBOT March soyoil settled down 0.19 cents at 63.06 cents per pound. Rain is expected in southwest Argentina next week, but nearly half of the corn and soybeans remain stressed by the country’s worst drought in 60 years, according to a Commodity Weather Group forecast. Heat is expected to ramp up again late next week.
China has given safety approvals to more imported genetically modified organism (GMO) crops, the agriculture ministry said on Friday, including corn and soybeans. China’s soybean imports jumped 19% in December compared with a year ago, customs data showed on Friday, as buyers stocked up on beans to ease tight supplies in the world’s top oilseed importer.
WHEAT FUTURES END MIXED
Chicago Board of Trade soft red winter (SRW) wheat futures ended mixed on Friday and flat for the week, while KC hard red winter (HRW) wheat firmed as the market weighed larger winter seedings against poor US Plains crop conditions, traders said.
Traders squared positions ahead of the long weekend as markets will be closed on Monday for the Martin Luther King Day holiday.
CBOT March soft red winter wheat settled up 1 cent at $7.43-3/4 per bushel. After dropping by more than 6% last week, the benchmark contact gained just 1/4 cent this week. KC March hard red winter wheat ended 8-3/4 cents higher at $8.43-3/4 per bushel. MGEX March spring wheat last traded 4-3/4 cents lower at $9.07-1/2.
In an annual report on Thursday, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimated winter wheat seedings above trade forecasts. Ukrainian farmers harvested almost 51 million tonnes of grain from 94% of the expected area as of Jan. 12, the agriculture ministry said, including 20.2 million tonnes of wheat.
CBOT CORN FIRMS
Chicago Board of Trade corn futures rose on Friday on follow-through buying after the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) cut its 2022 US crop outlook a day earlier and as Argentina’s crop remains stressed by drought, traders said.
Positioning ahead of the long weekend, with markets closed on Monday for the Martin Luther King Day holiday, supported prices. CBOT March corn settled 4 cents higher at $6.75 per bushel. The contract broke through technical chart resistance at its 100-day moving average but railed to break through overhead resistance at its 200-day average.