Commodities for Wednesday, April 10, 1985 : Grain, Soybean Prices Sink

Grain and soybean futures prices were mostly lower in quiet trading Wednesday on the Chicago Board of Trade.

Prices declined despite the strength of foreign currency values in trading against the U.S. dollar, a development generally considered supportive for grains because it increases the buying power of foreign purchasers.

Walter Spilka, a grain analyst in New York with Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Co., said at least part of the selling was done by traders who were taking profits after a slow uptrend over the past few sessions.

“It’s a quiet time of year. The market just sat there looking for new fundamentals,” Spilka said.

He noted that corn prices are high enough to allow farmers to sell their corn from reserve programs and repay government loans, and the increased selling by farmers has stemmed a “slow, slow climb” in prices.

Soybean prices appeared to be following silver prices, Spilka said, while soybean meal prices rallied partly on news of strong soybean meal sales on the European market in Rotterdam.