Soybeans at more than one-week low on crop-friendly US weather

SINGAPORE/PARIS: Chicago soybean futures dropped to their lowest in more than a week on Thursday due to forecasts for cooler, crop-friendly weather across the US Midwest.

Wheat slid for a fourth consecutive session as freshly harvested grain weighed on markets across the northern hemisphere.

The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board Of Trade was down 0.2% at $8.98-1/2 a bushel as of 1054 GMT. Earlier in the session, it dropped to its lowest since July 9 at $8.96-1/2 a bushel.

Corn shed 0.9% to $4.37-1/2 a bushel, while wheat slid 1% to $5.00-1/2 a bushel.

Last week grain markets were underpinned by fears that US crops could suffer from prolonged hot and dry weather conditions.

Corn prices have climbed for the last two weeks and hit a five-year high of $4.64-3/4 a bushel on Monday, helped by concerns over hot weather shortly after rain-plagued planting delays.

Updated weather models call for temperatures to exceed 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32°C) in much of the Midwest for a few days before easing.

The market is awaiting the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) report next month for price direction.  "Grain markets are lower as traders try to make sense of the current acreage thoughts swirling the market. With rumors of big prevent plant numbers across the country, traders want to see USDA re-survey data due August 12," brokerage Allendale said in a note.

The prevent plant numbers provide an assessment of the acreage that was not sown as planned due to adverse conditions.

Egypt's state grain buyer, the General Authority for Supply Commodities, said it bought 60,000 tonnes of Russian wheat in a tender on Wednesday.

As in recent Egyptian tenders, wheat from Black Sea suppliers Ukraine, Russia and Romania dominated the bidding, with no US or western European wheat offered.

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