CHICAGO, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) agricultural futures fell across the board on Thursday, led by soybeans.
The most active corn contract for May delivery fell 1.75 cents, or 0.28 percent, to settle at 6.3175 U.S. dollars per bushel. May wheat lost 1.5 cents, or 0.23 percent, to settle at 6.62 dollars per bushel. May soybean plunged 29 cents, or 2 percent, to settle at 14.195 dollars per bushel.
Net liquidation continued in global agricultural markets as funds shed soybean length, and additional selling is possible until there are signs of a bottom in Brazil's FOB market.
The speculators' mantra since late February has been to get smaller or get out of the markets entirely. But Chicago-based research company AgResource views prices of U.S. corn, soybeans and wheat as undervalued.
U.S. exporters in the week ending March 16 sold a net 122 million bushels of corn, above market expectations and the largest total since mid-March 2021. Exporters sold another 123,000 metric tons to China Thursday morning.
U.S. wheat export sales in the week were just 5 million bushels, as against 12 million bushels in the previous week; and soybean sales 6 million bushels, as against 254 million bushels in the prior week. Both were below market expectations.
For respective crop years to date, the United States has sold 1,376 million bushels of corn, down 34 percent year on year; 1,818 million bushels of soybeans, down 8 percent; and 656 million bushels of wheat, down 5 percent.
It will be a bit wetter across the southern Midwest, with two major systems forecast in the next 7-8 days. Heavy snow is offered to Nebraska, Iowa and Wisconsin next Thursday-Friday. The Southern and Western Plains stay arid.
