Corn rises after another sale to China; wheat, soybeans fall

CHICAGO: US corn futures rose for the second day in a row on Tuesday, supported by strong export demand as well as concerns that forecasts for dry weather in parts of the United States could stress the recently seeded crop, traders said.

Wheat and soybean futures weakened on a technical setback after failing to push through resistance points.

USDA said on Monday morning that private exporters reported the sale of 1.36 million tonnes of corn to China for delivery in the 2021/22 marketing year, the second day in a row the country has booked a purchase of at least 1 million tonnes of the yellow grain.

"China keeps on buying corn, which is really supportive," said Terry Reilly, senior analyst with Futures International.

Chicago Board of Trade July corn futures settled up 5-3/4 cents at $6.58-1/4 a bushel.

CBOT May soft red winter wheat futures were down 1-3/4 cents at $6.98 a bushel. The contract hit resistance at its five-day moving average early on Tuesday.

The USDA rated 48% of the winter wheat crop in good-to-excellent condition.

That was down 1 percentage point from the previous week while analysts polled by Reuters, on average expected a one-point improvement.

CBOT July soybean futures ended down 13-1/4 cents at $15.74-1/4 a bushel, settling below its 10-day moving average for the first time in five weeks.

On a continuous basis, the most-active soybean contract fell to its lowest since May 7. Soybean futures firmed overnight but turned lower after briefly topping Monday's high.

Weakness in crude oil prices added pressure to the soybean market. Soybean planting was 61% complete as of Sunday, ahead of the analyst estimates of 60%, according to the USDA.