Grain and oilseed futures finished lower on Friday under harvest pressure. December wheat led the decline, with Chicago wheat settling down 1.42 percent at 660.5 cents a bushel, corn down 0.78 percent at 474.2 cents and soybeans down 0.14 percent at 1,261.2 cents, after DTN reported midday trade with December corn down 4 cents, November soybeans down 3.75 cents and Kansas City wheat down 11.25 cents.
DTN attributed the pressure to good harvest weather ahead, a poor crush number and higher Brazilian soybean estimates, which together outweighed a third consecutive day of new export sale announcements. More than 50 million bushels of new soybean sales were announced during the week, with the largest share sold directly to China, and US corn is now priced cheaper than Brazilian corn for the December period, a competitiveness signal that has yet to lift futures.
The weekly picture is softer across the row crops: wheat is down 1.56 percent on the week, corn down 1.15 percent and soybeans down 2.38 percent. With the IGC projecting a record world soybean crop and total grain stocks tightening only gradually, the market is treating export announcements as necessary rather than sufficient, and is waiting for shipment data to confirm the demand.