Chicago crop futures ended the holiday-shortened trading week with solid losses on Friday.
Much of the pressure on the markets came from disappointing weekly export sales numbers from the USDA this morning, although some minor rainfall in increasingly dry Argentina added to the downside. The export sale report pegged bookings of US soybeans for the week ended Dec. 26 at 484,679 tonnes, below the low end of pre-report trade estimates ranging from 500,000 to 1.2 million tonnes. Some unexpected rain fell overnight over the north-central areas of Argentina. March beans dropped 20 ¼ cents to $9.91 ¾, and new-crop November lost 19 ¾ cents to $10.08 ¼.
Corn export sales for the week ended Dec. 26 were tallied at 776,992 tonnes, compared to trade estimates of 800,000 to 1.4 million. Farmer selling pressured as well, as did the Argentina rain. March corn fell 8 ¾ cents to $4.50 ¾, and December 2025 was down 5 ¾ cents at $4.40 ¾.
Weekly export sales for wheat were reported at 140,591 tonnes, well below trade ideas of between 200,000 and 500,000 tonnes. The weekend is expected to bring rain and snow to much of the southern plains, moving into the Soft Red Winter areas next week. March Chicago wheat fell 16 ¼ cents to $5.29 ¼, March Kansas City dropped 12 ¾ cents to $5.39 and March Minneapolis was down 11 ¾ cents to $5.77 ¾.
