Chicago Board of Trade soyabean futures firmed on technical buying on Friday but gains were kept in check by expectations for a bumper US harvest in the coming weeks, traders said. Corn was close to unchanged but wheat futures were down for the fourth day in a row, although some end-of-week bargain buying pulled prices from weekly lows hit early in the session.
Still, concerns about US export prospects limited buying opportunities for wheat as overseas supplies were able to fill much of the current demand. At 9:43 a.m. CDT (1443 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade December soft red winter wheat was down 2-3/4 cents at $5.11 a bushel. For the week, the contract has fallen 6.2 percent.
The US Agriculture Department on Friday morning said weekly export sales of wheat were 379,800 tonnes, in line with market forecasts but down from a week ago. CBOT November soyabeans were up 3-3/4 cents at $8.43 a bushel while corn was down 1/2 cent at $3.65-3/4 a bushel. Soyabeans have fallen 0.2 percent this week while corn dipped 0.1 percent.
Market attention is turning toward a monthly US government crop report next Wednesday that will update official corn and soyabean harvest forecasts. Analysts expect the report will raise the government's forecast for soyabean production to 4.649 billion bushels, based on yields of 52.2 bushels per acre. The corn production outlook was expected to be trimmed, but still remain massive at 14.529 billion bushels, based on a yield of 177.8 bushels per acre.
Demand concerns also kept a bearish tone over soyabeans. Chicago wheat futures fell for a fourth straight session on Friday to hit a six-week low, sapped by investor selling and weak demand for US supplies.