CHICAGO: US corn and soybean futures slumped near one-month lows on Wednesday as favorable weather in South America fueled expectations for large harvests.
Traders also were disappointed that there were no signs of additional sales of US soybeans to China, the world's top importer of the oilseed, or of deals for corn.
China bought US soybeans on Dec. 12 in the first big deals in six months, after US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping met on Dec. 1 and set a 90-day negotiating window to resolve their trade differences.
Soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade hit their highest level since midsummer on the day of the sales. They have since dropped about 6 percent as traders said the pace of sales was slower than expected.
"A bull needs to be fed every day on some China news, and we didn't have it," said Don Roose, president of Iowa-based broker US Commodities.
Most actively traded March soybean futures were down 12-3/4 cents at $8.84-1/4 a bushel by 11:45 a.m. CST (1745 GMT). The contract earlier dropped to $8.83, its lowest price since Nov. 27.
Most-active corn futures slipped 4-3/4 cents to $3.73 a bushel and reached its lowest price since Nov. 30. CBOT wheat lost 6 cents to $5.10-1/2 a bushel and touched its lowest price since Dec. 6.
China maintains hefty tariffs on imports of US soy and other farm products that were imposed as part of the trade war between the world's two largest economies.
China has looked to South America to replace US cargoes, and US farmers worry that trend will continue as Brazil is set to harvest a large crop in the coming months.
Brazil and Argentina recently received rains in dry areas that should help with crop development, traders said.
"We're watching South America very close and we're not that far away from bean harvest," Roose said.
The United States inspected 651,181 tonnes of US soybeans for export last week, the US Department of Agriculture said. That was below analysts' expectations for 800,000 to 1.2 million tonnes.
Export inspections of corn and wheat were within traders' expectations.
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