Soybeans drop 1%, corn hits one-week low on forecast of bumper US crops

SINGAPORE: Chicago soybeans slid 1% on Monday and corn fell to its lowest level in a week, after a widely tracked crop tour of key US growing areas forecast bumper harvests amid favourable weather.

Soybeans, corn futures end steady

Wheat rose for the first time in four sessions, although ample world supplies are likely to limit the gains.

Fundamentals

• The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) fell 1% to $9.63-1/4 a bushel, as of 0036 GMT, and corn lost 0.3% to $3.90 a bushel, matching the lowest price since Aug. 16.

• Wheat climbed 0.1% to $5.28-3/4 a bushel.

• The US soybean harvest will be even bigger than the US government’s record forecast, advisory service Pro Farmer said on Friday, though it forecast a smaller corn crop than the US Department of Agriculture.

• Pro Farmer forecast a soybean harvest of 4.740 billion bushels, which would be about 6% above the 2021 record and more than the 4.589 billion bushels forecast by the agriculture department.

• The tour estimated record corn yields this week in top producers Iowa and Illinois, though crops in Minnesota were disappointing.

• The Canada Industrial Relations Board ordered on Saturday a halt to work stoppages at the country’s largest railways, signalling an end to an unprecedented service disruption at both main freight rail carriers that threatened to hammer Canada’s export-driven economy.

• Relatively strong demand for corn and a series of flash sales reported to China and unknown buyers have provided a market floor and suggested that lower prices are driving up demand.

• Farmers continue to sell old-crop corn and soy to make room for the upcoming harvest and to generate cash flow, traders said.

• Large speculators increased their net short position in CBOT corn futures in the week to Aug. 20, regulatory data released on Friday showed.

• The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly commitments of traders report also showed that noncommercial traders, a category that includes hedge funds, trimmed their net short position in CBOT wheat and increased their net short position in soybeans.