The most active corn contract for March delivery fell 0.5 cents, or 0.11 percent, to settle at 4.5175 U.S. dollars per bushel. March wheat rose 1.5 cents, or 0.25 percent, to settle at 6.1225 dollars per bushel. March soybean lost 17.25 cents, or 1.39 percent, to settle at 12.23 dollars per bushel.
Soybean dropped on sagging Brazilian soybean export premiums, as Brazilian soybean premiums were down another four to eight cents due to lackluster demand and growing harvest supply.
CBOT choppiness prevailed. Chicago-based research company AgResource holds that wheat is the first CBOT grain to bottom with a smaller North Africa and EU harvest ahead, while corn is finding end user pricing on breaks. March soybean is closely following Brazilian export premiums and Argentine weather forecast.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported that for the week ending Jan. 18, the United States sold 16.6 million bushels of wheat, 37.6 million bushels of corn and 20.6 million bushels of soybeans.
For respective crop years to date, the United States has sold 608 million bushels of wheat, up 3 percent year on year; 1,278 million bushels of corn, up 35 percent; and 1,395 million bushels of soybeans, down 18 percent.
The United States shipped out 41.1 million bushels of U.S. soybeans last week.
Parana's DERAL dropped the state soybean crop forecast from 21.7 million metric tons to 19.2 million metric tons in a report released Thursday.
North African wheat dryness is worsening and underpinning world wheat values on potential demand.
Limited rainfall is forecast for Argentina over the next 10 to 14 days. Heat and dryness are rapidly curtailing soil moisture across Argentina and far southern Brazil. Daily showers are forecast to fall across Northern Brazil, and cool temperatures prevail across Northern and Eastern Brazil.
Latest comments