CHICAGO: US corn futures fell on Monday as funds scaled back long positions and forecasts called for optimal weather in the Midwest, where farmers are wrapping up the harvest of corn and soyabeans, analysts said.
Wheat futures turned higher, rallying on bargain-buying after a six-session slide.
As of 12:44 p.m. CST (1844 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade December corn was down 2 cents at $3.96-1/2 per bushel. January soyabeans were down 5-1/4 cents at $10.51 a bushel while CBOT December wheat was up 4 cents at $6.02-1/2 a bushel.
Corn was vulnerable to long liquidation after speculators had built up a massive net long position during a recent run-up in prices to a 14-month high, with sentiment buoyed by strong demand for corn from China.
"Forecasts for warm and dry weather over the Corn Belt over the next six days, which will allow producers to finish corn and soyabean harvest in most areas, and the larger-than-expected net long in corn futures ... pressured corn futures," said Dan Cekander, president of DC Analysis.
Ahead of the US Department of Agriculture's weekly crop progress report due later on Monday, analysts surveyed by Reuters on average expected the government to show the US corn harvest as 83% complete and the soyabean harvest as 91% complete.
Improved weather for developing crops in South America also weighed on prices.
"The market has lost impetus from the shrinking areas of concern for South America crops," said Tobin Gorey, director of agricultural strategy at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
Wheat futures were poised to close higher for the first time in six sessions. Cekander noted forecasts for potentially stressful cold temperatures in wheat areas of Russia, while others said new Covid-19 lockdowns restricting restaurants and food services could be supportive to wheat futures.
"Wheat tends to benefit from a shutdown, giving it a bounce in early trade today," StoneX chief commodities economist Arlan Suderman wrote in a client note.
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