GRAINS-Chicago soy slips on profit taking after revised US biofuel targets
By Heather Schlitz
CHICAGO, March 27 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean futures ticked lower on Friday following the White House announcement of revised U.S. biofuel targets earlier in the afternoon.
The news prompted profit-taking as many traders had already bought soybean futures expecting bullish news.
Wheat and corn spent the day seesawing amid uncertainty over the Iran war, with corn also pressured by pre-weekend technical selling.
The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade Sv1 settled 14-1/2 cents lower to $11.59-1/4 per bushel
"We're a little weaker on beans, and it's probably profit-taking before the weekend and headline risk depending on what's happening with Iran and how negotiations are going," said Randy Place, analyst at Hightower Report.
Investors have reacted cautiously to U.S. President Donald Trump's latest comments on talks to end the month-old conflict.
Trump said on Thursday that talks to end the war were going "very well" and that he would delay threatened attacks on Iran's energy plants for another 10 days.
Oil prices LCOc1 turned higher on Friday as traders set Trump's comments against Iran's criticism of the U.S. proposals and ongoing disruption to energy markets. O/R
Grain and oilseed prices have broadly tracked fluctuations in crude oil during the conflict, reflecting the use of corn and soyoil in biofuels and knock-on effects on crop production from rising energy and fertiliser prices.
CBOT corn Cv1 settled 5 cents lower to $4.62 per bushel, as grain participants adjusted positions before Tuesday's U.S. Department of Agriculture's acreage estimates.
Rising costs of fertilizer resulting from the war in the Middle East could shift acreage from corn to soybeans. Corn requires a substantial amount of nitrogen from fertilizer.
CBOT wheat Wv1 settled unchanged at $6.05 per bushel.
Dry conditions affecting part of the U.S. wheat belt have lent support to prices. Traders are closely monitoring drought in the southern U.S. Plains, with hot weather this week raising the risk of more crop stress before possible rain from next week.
The parched conditions are primarily affecting hard red winter wheat production areas, supporting sharper gains this week for Kansas wheat futures KWv1 compared with Chicago prices.
