CHICAGO, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) agricultural commodities settled lower on Wednesday, with soybean futures plunging 18 cents amid renewed trade tensions between China and the United States.
A U.S. media report that the Trump Administration is moving to place 50 billion U.S. dollars of tariffs on Chinese goods pushed CBOT agricultural futures lower overnight.
The most active corn contract for July delivery fell 1.5 cents, or 0.4 percent to close at 3.76 dollars per bushel. July wheat delivery dropped 18 cents, or 3.37 percent to close at 5.165 dollars per bushel. July soybean delivery plunged 18 cents, or 1.89 percent to close at 9.36 dollars per bushel.
Politico, a Washington media source, indicated late Tuesday that U.S. President Donald Trump could slap China with tariffs as early as Friday. Politico said that such a move would surely inflame trade tensions and spark an almost immediate retaliation from China.
The report rattled Chicago grains markets on Wednesday, as grain futures have been whipsawed by fears of a renewed trade tension between the world's top two economies and by worsening trade ties between the U.S. and its traditional allies Mexico, Canada and the European Union.
Market watchers are also bearish after the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Tuesday raised its estimate of U.S. wheat production for the 2018-2019 marketing year that started on June 1 to 1.827 billion bushels from the prior month's forecast of 1.821 billion bushels.
