Chicago | Reuters—Chicago Board of Trade soybean and corn futures fell for a fourth straight day, as traders worried that biofuel policy changes under the incoming U.S. presidential administration of Republican Donald Trump would chill domestic demand.
Meanwhile, wheat futures slid lower as the U.S. dollar continued its multiday rally on Thursday, weighing on export sentiment.
The return of rain in the U.S. Plains helped improve crop prospects, adding to supply pressure, while dry skies in Western Europe have helped farmers accelerate planting after a rain-delayed start.
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CBOT most-active soybeans Sv1 finished down 20-1/4 cents at $9.87-1/2 per bushel, while corn Cv1 settled down 7-1/2 cents at $4.19 a bushel.
The most-active wheat contract Wv1 fell 10-3/4 cents to settle at $5.30-1/4 per bushel, having hit lows not seen since Aug. 27.
The soy and corn markets were still wrestling with the news from earlier this week, after Trump announced on Monday that Lee Zeldin, a biofuel opponent, would be his choice for head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said Angie Setzer, co-founder of Consus Ag Consulting.
“I think that anything that would show up as bullish from a fundamental standpoint in the short term is going to be outweighed by the idea that long-term trade and domestic demand is going to be under pressure under the Trump administration,” Setzer said.
Traders also fear that U.S. export demand may fall if Trump imposes his proposed tariffs on Chinese imports, which could spark retaliation from the top soybean buyer and revive a U.S.-China trade war.
—Additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Peter Hobson in Canberra
