Commodities Wednesday, Feb. 25, 1987 : Corn, Wheat Prices Slip

Corn and wheat futures prices slipped lower on the Chicago Board of Trade on Wednesday, as hopes faded for near-term grain sales to the Soviet Union.

On other markets, oil traders went on a selling binge and sent prices into a steep decline; and cattle futures were lower, while pork was mostly higher.

Grain futures were sharply higher last Friday on rumors that the Soviet Union might be interested in buying corn and possibly wheat. In fact, the Soviets did buy 1 million tons of U.S. corn, but then late Tuesday said they were back out of the market.

A Soviet representative said his country has no further immediate need for any more corn. He said if the Soviets were to buy any U.S. wheat, the cost would have to be substantially reduced through subsidies.

“Prices are not going to trade higher on hoped-for Russian business,” said Rich Feltes, an analyst in Chicago with Refco Inc. “They’ll only go higher if any business actually comes through.”

One trader, Victor Lespinasse of Dean Witter Reynolds Inc., said the Russian comments should be taken with a grain of salt.

“The Russians are trying to talk the market down,” he said.