US corn and wheat futures firmed on Friday, supported by a round of end-of-week bargain buying after posting sharp declines on Thursday, traders said. Soyabeans also were higher, underpinned by strong export demand. All three commodities were on track for weekly gains, but strength was kept in check by expectations of a bumper US harvest of corn and soyabeans in the coming weeks.
US futures also drew broad support from a falling dollar as the euro climbed to a 2-1/2-year high against the US currency. At 9:51 am CDT (1451 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade December corn futures were 3 cents higher at $3.58-1/4 a bushel. CBOT December wheat was 3-3/4 cents higher at $4.41 a bushel. CBOT November soyabeans were up 2-1/4 cents at $9.71 a bushel.
The US Agriculture Department said on Friday morning that private exporters reported the sale of 264,000 tonnes of soyabeans to China for delivery during the 2017/18 marketing year, the biggest flash sale in 2-1/2 weeks. Weekly export sales of soyabeans totalled 1.16 million tonnes, the USDA said, just above market forecasts that ranged from 500,000 to 1.10 million tonnes.
China, the world's largest soyabean buyer, imported 8.45 million tonnes of soyabeans in August, a record for the month, figures from the General Administration of Customs of China showed. The news underlined brisk recent demand from China that has offset supply pressure after a record Brazilian harvest this year. For the week, soyabean futures have risen 2.3 percent, corn futures were up 0.9 percent and wheat futures were up 1.0 percent. Soyabeans were on track for their third straight week of gains, which would be the longest streak since a four-week stretch of higher closes that ended in late October 2016.