Corn futures dip on profit-taking; soybeans edge higher

SINGAPORE: U.S. corn futures edged lower on Tuesday as traders locked in profits after a recent rally following concerns over crop stress amid dry conditions in the U.S. Midwest crop belt.

Wheat dipped to snap a three-session winning streak, while soybeans edged higher.

FUNDAMENTALS

The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 0.2% at $13.75 a bushel, as of 0156 GMT.

Wheat lost 0.4% to $6.31-1/2 a bushel, while corn gave up 0.3% to $6.15-1/2 a bushel, after rising to a nearly two-month high in the previous session.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) rated 61% of the U.S. corn crop in good-to-excellent condition in its weekly crop progress report on Monday, down 3 percentage points from a week ago and below the average of estimates in a Reuters poll.

The USDA also lowered its U.S. soybean crop rating by 3 percentage points to 59% good-to-excellent, below the average analyst estimate of 60%.

Brazilian farmers have harvested through last Thursday 2.2% of the area planted for their second corn crop in the center-south region, agribusiness consultancy AgRural said on Monday, up 0.8 percentage points from the previous week.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday he is concerned that Russia will on July 17 quit a deal allowing the safe wartime export of grain and fertilizers from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports.

Algerian state agency ONAB is believed to have bought an unknown volume of animal feed corn to be sourced from optional origins in an international tender for up to 140,000 metric tons which closed on Thursday, European traders said on Monday.

Commodity funds were net buyers of Chicago Board of Trade corn, wheat and soymeal futures contracts on Monday and net sellers of CBOT soybean and soyoil futures, traders said.

Asian shares edged up in early trade on Tuesday, following an upbeat session on Wall Street while investors turned their attention to key U.S. inflation data and the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision this week.