Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures fell more than two per cent on Tuesday and soybeans also declined on optimism for sizable U.S. crops and some forecasts for rain next week, despite pockets of stress from hot and dry conditions, traders said.
Wheat futures finished lower after a choppy session, declining after Egypt’s state grains buyer cancelled an international wheat purchase tender that had attracted offers of U.S. supplies.
Chicago Board of Trade December corn settled down 15-1/2 cents at $5.95-1/4 per bushel, snapping a four-session climb (all figures US$). CBOT November soybeans ended down 22 cents at $13.58-1/4 a bushel and CBOT September wheat finished down 1/2 cent at $8.12-1/4 a bushel.
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Corn and soybeans were pressured by a weekly report showing stabilizing U.S. crop conditions. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) late on Monday rated 64 per cent of the U.S. corn crop in good-to-excellent condition, unchanged from the previous week, while analysts surveyed by Reuters on average had expected a decline of one percentage point.
For soybeans, USDA rated 61 per cent of the crop as good-to-excellent, down from 62 per cent in the previous week, while analysts on average had expected no change.
“A second straight week of steady national corn condition ratings is giving the bears more hope that the current crop can meet or exceed USDA expectations, despite the continuance of a hot and dry summer,” Arlan Suderman, chief commodities economist at StoneX, wrote in a client note.
Forecasts pointed to beneficial rains in portions of the Midwest crop belt for next week, which could bolster yield prospects.
Market pressure also stemmed from hopes that a deal will be found to export more grains out of Ukraine as Russian President Vladimir Putin met with his Turkish counterpart in Iran to discuss the matter.
Still, analysts were cautious about the impact of a deal to resume maritime exports of Ukrainian grain.
“Progress on exports of Ukrainian grain stored at Black Sea ports is not an indication of normalisation in export flows, and we still see profound dislocations in global agricultural trade flows,” JPMorgan analysts said in a note.
— Julie Ingwersen is a Reuters commodities correspondent in Chicago; additional reporting by Naveen Thukral.
