Chicago soybeans, grains fall as traders await USDA acreage and stocks reports

BEIJING: Chicago soybean and grain futures fell on Monday as traders adjusted positions ahead of the US Department of Agriculture’s acreage and quarterly grain stocks reports on Tuesday.

The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was down 0.61% at $11.49-1/4 a bushel, as of 0315 GMT.

Corn fell 1.03% to $4.08-1/2 a bushel, while wheat was down 0.13% at $5.89 a bushel.

“Although the average trade guess is suggesting a slightly lower area, the market positioning ahead of the report is leaning towards the planted acreage figures coming in a little higher than the March prospective figures,” said Josh Lawrence, advisory consultant at IKON Commodities.

A bearish acreage or stocks figure could reinforce the recent downtrend, particularly in wheat, said Andrew Whitelaw, an analyst at Australian consultancy Episode 3.

Market participants were also watching whether the ceasefire between the United States and Iran would hold, Whitelaw said.

Oil prices rose on Monday following days of tit-for-tat strikes by the US and Iran that underscored the fragility of their interim peace deal and again slowed energy shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Soybean and corn prices often track crude oil because of their role in biofuel production.

The resumption of fertiliser shipments through the Strait of Hormuz could remove some input-cost premium from the market, as the waterway handles a large share of global fertilisers and related inputs.

Wheat drew some support from slow grower selling during the Northern Hemisphere harvest and concerns over the European crop following a recent heatwave, Lawrence said. However, the continuing US Plains harvest and ample global supplies pressured wheat prices.

Weather concerns lent some support to grain markets.

Hotter-than-normal conditions are expected from the Plains to the Atlantic Coast through July 4, the National Weather Service said last week.