Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) soybean, wheat and corn futures firmed on Friday, with all three commodities recovering from declines posted during the overnight trading session.
The strength in soybeans stemmed from signs that demand for US supplies remains strong even with newly harvested soybeans from South America available on the marketplace.
Corn futures benefited from position squaring ahead of a closely watched report on US farmers' planting plans that the government will release next week.
Wheats Future
Wheats future was rising after three straight days of declines as investors guarded against rallies stemming from developments in the fighting between Russia and Ukraine.
Chicago Board of Trade May soybean futures SK2 settled up 9-1/2 cents at $17.10-1/4 a bushel.
Private exporters reported the sale of 132,000 tonnes of soybeans to China for delivery in the 2021/22 marketing year, the US Agriculture Department said on Friday morning.
It was the third time this week the government has announced a so-called "flash sale" of old-crop supplies.
"US beans are cheaper than Brazil and Argentina going all the way out through September," said Terry Reilly, senior commodity analyst at Futures International. "With the flash sales, it kind of confirms that US is competitive."
CBOT May corn CK2 was 5-3/4 cents higher at $7.54 a bushel.
Expectations
Analysts were expecting the USDA report next week to show that farmers plan to decrease their corn seedings by 1.5% compared with 2021.
Soybean plantings were seen rising 1.8%.
CBOT May wheat WK2 was up 16-1/2 cents at $11.02-1/4 a bushel.
Wheat had fallen in the previous three sessions, its longest losing streak since before Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
After an initial scramble to replace Ukrainian grain cargoes with other origins like the European Union and India, traders are watching to see how importers manage the ongoing squeeze in international supply.
News by Reuters, edited by Donna Ahern, Checkout. For more supply chain stories, click here. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition
