U.S. corn and wheat retreated Thursday, while soybean beans advanced on the short covering and better-than-expect export figure.
The most active corn contract for December delivery dropped 1. 25 cents, or 0.34 percent, to 3.695 U.S. dollars per bushel. September wheat fell 2 cents, or 0.38 percent, to 5.2875 dollars per bushel. November soybean rose 8.25 cents, or 0.77 percent, to 10.8475 dollars per bushel.
Soybeans rose to session highs after the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that the export sales for the week ending July 17 approached 100 million bushels, leading to a rush of short covering, which gave a strong boost to soybeans price.
Official figures showed that corn and soybean export sales in the latest week topped market expectations. The United States sold 56.5 million bushels of corn, 98.4 million bushels of soybeans, and 16.3 million bushels of wheat.
Meanwhile, worries that cold and dry weather in parts of the Midwest might hurt yield prospect provided further support. Weather forecast showed that cold spells will prevail with some record lows possible during the opening days of August, the crucial period for determining yields for soybeans. Corn and soybeans should flourish under the combination of sunshine and cool temperatures.
China officially has requested that U.S. Dried Distillers Grain (DDG) corn be certified free of MIR162, an genetically modified trait. It is expected that China may request like testing or certification for all U.S. corn, which creates a defacto embargo on U.S. corn or DDG into China.
Meanwhile, as the European Union and United States are mulling tougher sanctions on Russian banks, Russian farmers may be forced into selling wheat or corn more quickly than they would desire if funds to Russian banks become tight.