US soyabean futures dropped 1 percent on Friday to their lowest in more than four months on pressure from rising forecasts for already-robust South American harvests, traders said. Corn futures also weakened, hitting their lowest since January 30. Wheat futures were mixed, with Chicago Board of Trade soft red winter wheat rising on bargain buying following four straight days of declines, while K.C. hard red winter wheat and MGEX spring wheat weakened as some much-needed rain arrived in the US Plains.
All three commodities werre on track for weekly losses Weakness in the cash market added further pressure to soyabeans. Soyabean spot basis bids fell by 5 cents per bushel at a closely watched processor in Decatur, Illinois. Cash bids for both corn and soyabeans were steady to lower at other processors and elevators around the US Midwest.
At 10:20 am CDT (1520 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade May soyabean futures were down 12 cents at $9.79 a bushel. The most-active contract, which bottomed out at its lowest since November 14, has fallen 2.1 percent this week. The Buenos Aires Grains Exchange on Thursday afternoon raised its outlook for Argentina's 2016/17 soya crop to 56.5 million tonnes from 54.8 million previously, the latest of a series of upgrades to forecasts for harvests in South America.
The prospect of huge South American soyabean crops arriving on export markets took the shine off higher-than-expected weekly US export sales reported on Thursday. CBOT May corn was 1/4 cent lower at $3.56-1/2 a bushel, with declines limited by some end-of-week short-covering. Corn futures have fallen 3.0 percent this week. CBOT May wheat futures were up 2-3/4 cents at $4.23-3/4 a bushel. CBOT wheat has shed 2.8 percent this week. Rain forecasts pointed to significant moisture relief next week in the six to 10 days ahead for all but the far south-west of the US Plains, Commodity Weather Group said in a daily update.