SINGAPORE: Chicago soybean futures slid nearly 1% on Tuesday, while corn lost ground as expectations of much-needed rains in parts of the US Midwest eased concerns over dry weather which has threatened yields. Wheat fell for a third consecutive session.
“There is some relief for corn and soybean crops with rains over the weekend in the US Midwest,” said one Singapore-based grains trader.
“More rains is expected next week which should help crops recover.”
The most-active corn contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) lost 0.2% to $5.87-1/4 a bushel, as of 0316 GMT.
Wheat fell 1.1% to $7.30-1/2 a bushel and soybeans gave up 0.9% to $13.11-1/4 a bushel.
The condition of US corn and soybean crops deteriorated to the worst in decades, US government data showed on Monday, as major producing areas missed out on much-needed rains.
The weekly crop progress report from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) showed that good-to-excellent ratings for corn stood at 50% as of June 25, below the average of 11 estimates given by analysts in a Reuters poll that had predicted 52%.
Just 51% of soybeans were in good-to-excellent condition, in line with analyst expectations.
The ratings for both corn and soybeans were the lowest for this time of the year since 1988, the year of a historic crop-wasting drought.
In the wheat market, focus is on supplies from the Black Sea region after concerns about political stability in major exporter Russia eased and prices fell from multi-month highs.
An end to the Black Sea grains deal would hit the Horn of Africa hard, aid officials said on Monday, warning that another hike in food prices would add to the tens of millions of people facing hunger.
Funds spooked out of CBOT shorts by parched US corn, soy crops
Moscow has been threatening to walk away from the deal known as the Black Sea grain initiative - brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July last year - if obstacles to its own grain and fertilizer shipments are not removed.
A Ukrainian envoy has said he was 99.9% certain Russia would quit when it comes up for renewal on July 18.
Ukraine’s grain exports for the 2022/23 July-June season stood at 48.4 million tonnes as of June 26, four days before the end of the marketing year, agriculture ministry data showed on Monday.
Russian wheat export prices rose for the second week in a row last week along with global markets, while the pace of exports also accelerated, analysts said.
Commodity funds were net buyers of CBOT corn, soybean, soymeal and soyoil futures contracts on Monday, and net sellers of wheat, traders said.
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