Commodities : Wheat, Corn, Soybeans Off

Wheat, corn and soybean futures prices retreated Thursday on the Chicago Board of Trade.

Soybeans came under early pressure with the posting of delivery notices for more than 1 million bushels of beans against the November contract, said Susan Hackmann, an analyst with Agri Analysis. “Over a million bushels took everyone by surprise,” she said. “They weren’t looking for any deliveries.”

“That immediately had soybeans on the defensive,” Hackmann said. “Then the Soviet Union’s estimate of its 1986 grain crop came out at 210 million metric tons, much higher than the USDA’s estimate.”

The Agriculture Department’s latest estimate of the Soviet crop was 190 million tons.

Traders said added pressure came from private forecasts that the USDA will increase its estimate of the U.S. crop on Monday.

Wheat settled cent to 6 3/4 cents lower with the contract for delivery in December at $2.86 1/2 a bushel; corn was 1/2 cent to 1 cents lower with December at $1.72 3/4 a bushel; oats were 1/2 cent to 1 1/2 cents higher with December at $1.38 3/4 a bushel; and soybeans were 3 3/4 cents lower to 1 cent higher with November at $5.00 3/4 a bushel.