Chicago grain pare gains amid demand concerns

Chicago grain futures ended moderately lower on Wednesday, paring earlier gains, as a sluggish demand tone and weakness seen in a wide range of other commodity markets helped trigger speculative long liquidation selling. The most active corn contract for December delivery dropped 5.5 cents, or 0.9 percent, to close at 6.385 U.S. dollars per bushel. December wheat trimmed 5.75 cent, or 0.9 percent, to 6.195 dollars per bushel. November soybean plunged 25.75 cents, or 2.1 percent, to 12.25 dollars per bushel. A trader mentioned that grain prices opened higher on outside market support, with a sharply lower U.S. dollar and stronger equities market, but the reverse in the greenback and weakness developed in other commodities markets helped drag the market off the highs. Meanwhile, grain price remained under speculative long liquidation selling pressure, amid increasing expectation that demand from China, one of the world's major importers may slowdown, after government report showed that GDP growth in China slowed in the third quarter to its weakest pace since early 2009. Soybean also suffered pressure from the U.S. harvest, along with profit-taking after last week's rally. According to the latest USDA Crop Progress report, soybean harvest in U.S. is completed at 69 percent versus 81 percent a year ago and ahead of the 10 year average of 64 percent.