Corn, soybeans rise on worry US dryness stressing crops

SINGAPORE/HAMBURG: Chicago corn rose on Monday as dry weather in parts of the US Midwest is expected to damage the condition of US crops, analysts said.

Soybeans rose to hit their highest in over two-years, while wheat was set to finish August up.

"Corn and soybeans are rising today as weekend rains in US farm belts disappointed and there is concern that the condition of US crops has deteriorated," said Matt Ammermann, StoneX commodity risk manager. "Wheat is largely rising on spillover support from corn and soybeans coupled with firm Black Sea prices."

"There is considerable market attention on the weekly US crop conditions report from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) due late on Monday."

Chicago Board of Trade most-active corn rose 1.3% to $3.64-1/4 a bushel at 1109 GMT, the highest since mid-March.

Soybeans were up 1.5% at $9.64-3/4 a bushel after climbing earlier in the session to their highest since June 2018 at $9.66-3/4 a bushel. Wheat rose 1.7% to $5.58-1/2 a bushel.

"Markets rose sharply after last week's crop conditions report in which the USDA reduced its assessment of both US corn and soybeans and there is worry that condition estimates could be reduced again. The market already anticipates a cut of 2-4 percentage points in both corn and soybean conditions." Ammermann said.

"It has been one of the driest Augusts ever in the US and the debate is turning to the impact on yields."

This week a series of private estimates of US crops and yields are set to be published that may help to give a clearer picture of what impact the late season dryness has had on crops, he said.

Rising prices in Russia and Ukraine, rivals to US exporters, also underpinned wheat.