U.S. agricultural futures fall

CHICAGO, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) agricultural futures fell across the board on Tuesday, led by wheat.

The most active corn contract for May delivery fell 3.75 cents, or 0.87 percent, to settle at 4.2625 U.S. dollars per bushel. May wheat plunged 13 cents, or 2.3 percent, to settle at 5.51 dollars per bushel. May soybean lost 6 cents, or 0.52 percent, to settle at 11.49 dollars per bushel.

World wheat markets remained weak as aggressive Russian offers were digested. Russian wheat was offered at 202 dollars per ton. The probable loss of production in Europe, along with the lost winter acres in the United States and supply issues in North African, funneled sizable demand to the Black Sea summer onward.

Chart resistance remained in place. Safrinha corn pollination will occur between mid-March and late April. Chicago-based research company AgResource holds that this is no place to sell wheat as the 2024 North Hemisphere growing season is imminent.

A Moroccan farm group projected the country's wheat production in 2024 to be well below 4 million metric tons, as against 4.2 million metric tons in 2023. This raised the need for Moroccan wheat imports to a record 7.0 million to 7.5 million metric tons in 2024-2025.

EU wheat export commitments as of Feb. 28 totaled 21 million metric tons, down 1.9 percent year on year.

Well below normal rain blankets Mato Grosso do Sul, Parana and southern Mato Grosso. Favorable finishing rain will impact Argentina next week.