CHICAGO, July 9 (Xinhua) -- Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) agricultural futures rose across the board on Thursday, led by wheat.
The most active corn contract for December delivery rose 2.75 cents, or 0.78 percent, to close at 3.57 U.S. dollars per bushel. September wheat soared 8.5 cents, or 1.65 percent, to settle at 5.25 dollars per bushel. November soybean gained 4.25 cents, or 0.47 percent, to close at 9.015 dollars per bushel.
CBOT traders estimated that funds bought 5,400 contracts of wheat, 7,500 contracts of corn and 6,400 contracts of soybeans.
CBOT futures rose higher ahead of the July U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) crop report amid a threatening Central U.S. weather forecast, when there is a prospect of another episode of heat/dryness to late next week. The CBOT futures will be weather-driven.
In the week ending July 2, the United States exported 12 million bushels of wheat, 23.6 million bushels of old and 16.1 million bushels of new crop corn, and 35 million bushels of old and 14 million bushels of new crop soybeans. The weekly corn and soybean sales were slightly better than expected.
For respective crop years to date, the United States has sold 278 million bushels of wheat, up about one percent; 1,689 million bushels of corn, down 13 percent; and 1,690 million bushels of soybeans, down 5 percent.
China purchased a few U.S. soybean cargoes early in the week, Chicago-based consulting company AgResource noted, without offering specific details.
Russian wheat prices rose on the initial disappointing yield trend during winter wheat harvest. Yield reductions in Ukraine and Russia are pushing end users to expand their forward coverage.
Argentine corn for August slipped to a new low, as the country remains aggressive in offering corn to the world feedgrain export arena.
Uncertainty over Black Sea production and the weather pattern in Central U.S. in late July would sustain funds' short covering or buying in the near term, AgResource predicted. Enditem
