Chicago Soy Retreats From 7-Month High on Concerns About China's Demand

Grain soybean futures in Chicago Board of Trade closed lower after going down from seven-month high on Tuesday due to worries on China's demand. Corn and wheat ended higher.

Soybean future for July delivery lost 16 cents to 11.02 U.S. dollars per bushel, after touching 11.265 dollars earlier in the session, the highest level since last September.

July corn gained 4.5 cent, closing at 4.12 dollars a bushel. July wheat was up 11.5 cents, settling on 5.7025 dollars per bushel.

Talk that China may cancel some of the recent purchases from the United States helped to spark aggressive long liquidation selling from speculators late in the session, especially after seeing a new high in seven months.

The outlook for more rains in the eastern Corn Belt which might slow planting progress along with supportive news from outside markets helped support the early rally. Corn planting was pegged at 33 percent as of May 3 compared to the five-year average of 50 percent. Illinois and Indiana corn planting progress was just 5 percent complete in both states as compared with 58 percent in Illinois as the 10-year average and 42 percent in Indiana.

July corn managed to close higher after retreating from the highest level since Jan. 26, pressured by some profit-taking selling from speculators.

The Wheat Quality Council, which toured the biggest wheat producing state of Kansas from Tuesday to Thursday, said it predicted the production of Hard Red Wheat in Kansas will be 333.3million bushel, well below the anticipation of 379.1 million bushel made in 2008. This predicted reduction indicated that bad weather such as dry and frost have damaged the U.S. wheat's output in 2009, helping the crop go up for the session.