Chicago | Reuters – U.S. soybean futures fell on Friday after the Agriculture Department's updated estimate for Brazil's soybean crop fell toward the high end of trade expectations, easing worries about global oilseed supplies.
Corn fell after the USDA left its forecasts for corn production in Brazil and Argentina unchanged, while wheat fell 1.6 percent after hitting a one-week high on profit-taking.
Declines in soybean futures set the tone. The USDA put Brazil's soy production at 161 million tons in a monthly report. That's down from the November estimate of 163 million tonnes, but still the largest harvest ever if realized. Analysts polled by Reuters on average expected an estimate of 160.16 million tonnes.
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“It (USDA report) was pretty much in line with what we expected, even the Brazilian soybean number,” said Karl Setzer, partner at Consus Ag Consulting. “I just can’t see anything here that would justify changing your market position.”
The central and northern regions of the South American country have struggled with high temperatures, while southern areas have faced excessive rainfall. However, the current 2023/24 soybean harvest of 161 million tons is still on track to surpass Brazil's previous record harvest from 2022/23, which the USDA estimated at 160 million tons.
Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Sv1 soybeans settled down 7-3/4 cents at $13.04 a bushel, falling after hitting a weekly high of $13.30-3/4 had. For the week, the contract fell 21 cents per bushel, or 1.6 percent.
CBOT corn Cv1 settled down 2-1/2 cents at $4.85-1/2 a bushel, ending the week relatively flat.
Traders rejected support from new U.S. export sales of soybeans, wheat and corn. Earlier Friday, the USDA confirmed the sale of 136,000 tons of U.S. soybeans and 110,000 tons of soft red winter wheat to China, as well as the sale of 165,000 tons of corn to undisclosed destinations.
Since Monday, the US government has reported sales of 1,120,000 tons of common red wheat to China.
CBOT's most active wheat contract Wv1 closed Friday down 10-1/2 cents at $6.31-3/4 a bushel, but ended the week up 4.8%.
–Additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Peter Hobson in Canberra.
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