Soybean Futures Tumble

Soybean futures prices were sharply lower and grains were moderately lower Thursday on the Chicago Board of Trade.

Prices of corn, soybeans and soybean oil fell to life-of-contract lows. Volume was light.

There was very little news to influence trading, said Walter Spilka, a grain analyst in New York with Smith Barney, Harris Upham. But prices rallied slightly Wednesday, and many traders saw that as an opportunity to sell contracts on speculation that prices would retreat, Spilka said.

Grain production forecasts are to be released today by a private Chicago crop analyst and Monday by the Agriculture Department, and most analysts expect both reports to predict very good harvests, so there was little buying in the face of the sell-off.

Soybeans were under additional pressure from news that almost 1 million bushels of soybeans were delivered against the August futures contract and from reports of heavy barge loadings on the Mississippi River, analysts said.

Cattle futures prices were mostly higher and live hogs and frozen pork bellies were lower on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.