Soybeans fall for second day, wheat off one-month low

PARIS/SINGAPORE: Chicago soybeans extended losses into a second session on Tuesday, weighed down by expectations for a record harvest for the crop in the United States.

Wheat was firm after hitting a one-month low in the previous session.

The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade was 0.1 percent lower at $8.47-3/4 a bushel while wheat gained 0.8 percent to $5.26-3/4 a bushel by 1110 GMT, off Monday's low of $5.21-3/4 a bushel, the weakest since July 25.

Corn was up 0.1 percent at $3.62 a bushel.

Commodity funds were net sellers of CBOT wheat, corn, soybean and soymeal futures contracts on Monday and net buyers of soyoil, traders said.

"Investors are likely to continue selling down their long positions and that is likely to take prices lower," said Tobin Gorey, director of agricultural strategy at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

The US Department of Agriculture said 66 percent of the US soybean crop was in good-to-excellent condition, slightly ahead of market forecasts.

In a release after the market closed on Monday, the agency said 68 percent of the US corn crop was in good-to-excellent condition, matching market expectations.

The market continued to be weighed down by a Pro Farmer projection putting 2018 US soybean production at a record 4.683 billion bushels, topping the US Department of Agriculture's forecast for 4.586 billion.

Pro Farmer also projected a US corn yield of 177.3 bushels per acre, below the USDA's forecast of 178.4 but still a record high, if realised.

Soybean prices have also faced pressure amid an outbreak of African swine fever in China that could threaten demand for animal feed.

Wheat ticked higher but remained pressured by easing concerns about Black Sea export restrictions and fund selling.

"However, fundamentals on the wheat remain unchanged, stretched supply will be hardly improved by better spring wheat yields in Russia or the return of precipitations in Australia," consultancy Agritel said in a report.

In Ukraine the farm ministry has no immediate plan to review a memorandum agreed with traders this month allowing for the export of 8 million tonnes of milling wheat this season, a senior ministry official said on Monday.

Reacting to the recent fall in prices, Egypt's main state wheat buyer set a tender to buy wheat from global suppliers for shipment from Oct. 11-20. Results were expected later on Tuesday.

After the CBOT close on Monday, the US Department of Agriculture said a farm aid package would include $4.7 billion in direct payments to farmers to help offset losses from retaliatory tariffs on American exports.

The bulk of the payments, $3.6 billion, would be made to soybean farmers, but the package will also include payments for sorghum, corn, wheat and cotton.