Soybeans drop for 2nd session on improved US weather

SINGAPORE: Chicago soybean futures slid for a second straight session on Monday, and corn ticked lower, pressured by rains in parts of the US Midwest.

Meanwhile, wheat rose on expectations of lower world output.

"(Soybean and corn) prices in the futures market are easing a little but people are still cautious," said one Singapore-based grains trader. "In the physical market there is not much change.

EU + UK soybean imports 4.47mn tonne by Oct 25, rapeseed 2.06mn tonne

I think the market wants more evidence of improved crop output before further reduction in prices."

The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board Of Trade (CBOT) dipped 0.3% to $13.45-1/2 a bushel by 0312 GMT, after closing down 2.1% on Friday.

Corn gave up 0.2% at $5.44-1/4 a bushel, while wheat rose 0.7% to $7.08-1/2 a bushel.

Rains are forecast for some parts of US Midwest, which will likely aid soybean and corn crops.

Traders await direction from the US Department of Agriculture's weekly crop condition ratings on Monday, and from private estimates of US corn and soy yields, ahead of the USDA's big Aug. 12 crop supply/demand report.

Buoyed by strong demand, Brazilian farmers are poised to expand their soybean area for the 15th consecutive year, a survey by agribusiness consultancy Datagro released on Friday showed.

The area planted with soybeans in the world's largest producer and exporter is expected to increase by 4% to 40.57 million hectares (100.2 million acres) in the 2021/2022 cycle, Datagro said.

The wheat market is being underpinned by lower global production outlook.

An annual US crop tour last week projected the average spring wheat yield in North Dakota, the top-producing state, to be at 29.1 bushels per acre this year, the lowest in tour records going back to 1993.

Russian agriculture consultancy IKAR lowered its wheat production forecast for 2021 to 78.5 million tonnes from 81.5 million tonnes, Russia's Interfax news agency reported on Friday, citing its head Dmitry Rylko.

Rylko said the forecast had been changed due to a drop of crop yields, mostly in the Central and Volga regions.

The International Grains Council this week cut its 2021/22 world wheat crop outlook by one million tonnes to 788 million tonnes, with the diminished outlook for North America partially offset by improved prospects in the European Union.

Large speculators raised their net long position in CBOT corn futures in the week to July 27, regulatory data released on Friday showed.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's weekly commitments of traders report also showed that noncommercial traders, a category that includes hedge funds, trimmed their net short position in CBOT wheat and cut their net long position in soybeans.