The most active soybean contract for July delivery was down 27.25 cents, or 3.05 percent weekly, to close at 8.67 dollars per bushel. July corn was down 6 cents, or 0.82 percent, to settle at 3.6125 dollars per bushel. May wheat was down 5.75 cents, or 1.28 percent, to close at 4.425 dollars per bushel.
CBOT soybean futures suffered sharp losses amid concerns over declining demand for U.S. crops, as China's African swine fever could curb the demand for soybeans and corn used for animal feed.
Meanwhile, China's Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Affairs said this week that outbreaks of African swine fever had been contained, as only 17 cases of African swine fever were reported during the first quarter this year, compared with 74 cases in the fourth quarter of 2018.
Still, market analysts said that African swine fever would remain a negative factor for U.S. exports for a long time, putting pressure on commodity prices. U.S. exporters are required to report to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) any export sales activity of 100,000 metric tons or more of one commodity, made in one day.
However, within this week, no such big export sales were reported. CBOT wheat also posted significant weekly losses amid fund selling, under pressure from better U.S. crop progress and ample global stockpiles.
The USDA this week released its latest crop progress report, showing that 62 percent of U.S. winter wheat was in good to excellent condition, up from 60 percent last week and 31 percent in the previous year.
Additional pressure came from ample global stockpiles, as the USDA this month estimated world wheat ending stocks at 275.61 million metric tons, higher than last month's 270.53 metric tons.
The USDA also raised its domestic wheat ending stocks to 29.58 million metric tons, from 28.72 million metric tons in its March projection.
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