CHICAGO, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) — The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) experienced a decline in agricultural futures on Monday, primarily driven by a drop in wheat prices.
The December delivery corn contract, which saw the most activity, fell by 2.5 cents or 0.52 percent, settling at 4.7825 U.S. dollars per bushel. Meanwhile, December wheat experienced a significant plunge of 9.5 cents or 1.65 percent, closing at 5.66 dollars per bushel. Additionally, the January soybean contract lost 12.25 cents or 0.93 percent, settling at 13.0725 dollars per bushel.
CBOT has faced challenges in maintaining a consistent upward or downward trend since late summer, leading to a choppy price development that is expected to persist.
Harvesting progress in the United States indicates that soybean harvest is projected to reach 85 to 87 percent, while corn harvest is estimated at 72 to 75 percent. The final stages of the U.S. harvest are set to take place this week. Research company AgResource, based in Chicago, holds a bullish outlook on U.S. soybean products, anticipating a broad sideways trading range for grains.
On Monday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture revealed that for the week ending Oct. 26, the country exported 20.9 million bushels of corn, 69.5 million bushels of soybeans, and 7 million bushels of wheat. The export quantities for wheat and corn fell below trade expectations, while soybean exports aligned with expectations.
In terms of the current crop year, the United States has exported 194.7 million bushels of corn, a 17 percent increase from the previous year. However, soybean exports were down 3 percent at 365.6 million bushels, and wheat exports showed a significant decline of 26 percent at 261.4 million bushels.
Southern Brazil has been experiencing historically unprecedented levels of rainfall. The heavy rain has primarily affected the southern one-third of the country, resulting in a negative impact on the yield and production of Brazilian summer row crops.
