US soyabean futures fell to a six-week low on Thursday on expectations for a big South American harvest and an expansion in US plantings this spring, analysts said. Corn futures fell on chart-based selling while wheat posted modest declines. As of 11:15 am CST (1715 GMT), the Chicago Board of Trade March soyabean contract was down 8-3/4 cents at $10.14 per bushel after dipping to $10.13-1/4, its lowest since Jan. 12.
CBOT March corn was down 3-3/4 cents at $3.67-1/4 a bushel and March wheat was down 1-1/2 cents at $4.39-3/4 a bushel. Soyabeans fell after the US Department of Agriculture at its annual outlook conference projected US soyabean plantings for 2017 at 88.0 million acres, a record high if realized. The figure was just above an average of trade expectations in a Reuters poll for 87.6 million.
South American farmers are expected to produce a massive crop, with the harvest already well under way in Brazil. Agroconsult, a Brazilian consultancy, on Wednesday raised its forecast for the country's 2016/17 soya crop to 107.8 million tonnes, up from its Feb. 8 estimate of 105.3 million. CBOT corn fell even though the USDA projected US 2017 plantings at 90 million acres, down 4.3 percent from 2016 and below an average of trade expectations the a Reuters poll for 91.0 million.
The CBOT March corn contract appeared to be testing chart support at its 200-day moving average near $3.67. Commodity funds recently shifted from a net short position in CBOT corn futures to a net long, leaving the market vulnerable to long liquidation.
Wheat futures fell, retreating a day after a 1.2 percent rally in the March contract. The USDA projected US total wheat plantings for the 2017 harvest at 46.0 million acres, below an average of trade expectations in a Reuters poll for 46.85 million. However, massive domestic and global supplies of old-crop wheat continue to hang over the market.