Demand for corn has struggled because of high prices, while robust soyabean demand has been due to strong crush margins and competition for oilseeds from the export market. A monthly US Department of Agriculture report next week is expected to show US corn inventories grew by 2.5 percent because of poor export demand, according to a Reuters poll.
Soyabean inventories are expected to drop to the lowest level since the 2003/04 marketing year, thanks to a scorching export pace, especially to top buyer China, analysts said. USDA on Friday confirmed private sales of 115,000 tonnes of US soyabeans to China for 2012/13 delivery. US corn futures fell to a 2-1/2 week low on Friday in the steepest slide in nearly a month, pressured by technical selling and concerns stockpiles will increase. Soyabeans retreated from one-month highs.
Merchants were keeping an eye on the Mississippi River which is forecast to drop to near-record lows at several locations in the weeks ahead following the worst US drought in more than 50 years this summer. Navigation may come to a halt if the river gets too shallow for boats to safely pass. Fall rains and dredging will keep barge traffic moving on the middle Mississippi River through mid-December despite low water caused by a drought covering 60 percent of the continental United States, the government said on Friday.