CHICAGO, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) agricultural futures fell for the trading week ending April 3, with weaker ethanol demand due to stay-at-home orders amid the U.S. COVID-19 outbreak pushing down corn prices.
Ethanol production for the week was the lowest since 2013, as margins remained negative amid record large ethanol stocks. Storage capacity tied to the glut of supply will be an issue by mid-April, according to AgResource, a Chicago-based agricultural research firm.
May corn ended the week 15 cents lower on the sharp drop in ethanol demand and collapsing feed margins.
With AgResource predicting that a global recovery from the COVID-19 outbreak remains six to eight weeks off, wheat futures ended 21 cents per bushel lower as U.S. bakeries began to operate at reduced capacity amid the collapse in restaurant traffic.
July wheat is expected to test 5.80 dollars per bushel if weather in Europe's Black Sea region remains dry, but could fall to 4.75 dollars per bushel if wet conditions emerge in the next 30 days.
Soybean futures were 25 cents per bushel lower for the week with spot futures hitting 8.50 dollars per bushel. Soybean exports remain seasonally slow. February exports were at 101 million bushels, or 67 million bushels less than a year ago.
The March soybean data is expected to reflect a similar decline, and exports are expected to remain slow in the months ahead. AgResource said soybeans expected for export in U.S. ports on Monday should total just 11 million bushels, with no exports to China.
