BEIJING: Chicago grain and oilseed futures fell on Tuesday, as favourable US crop weather boosted yield prospects, while ample global supplies dampened demand for US shipments.
The most-active corn contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was down 0.6percent at USD4.41-1/2 a bushel, as of 0225 GMT. Soybeans fell 0.2percent to USD11.78-1/4 a bushel and wheat lost 0.6percent to USD6.05 a bushel. Grain markets have tracked swings in crude oil prices during the three-month US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in part because some crops are used to produce biofuels.
However, favourable weather, weak US demand, and expectations of strong harvests in South America have put increasing pressure on corn and soybean prices. Crop-friendly weather in the US Midwest has pressured the market despite the US Department of Agriculture’s report on Monday that corn and soybean crops were in slightly worse shape than last year.
The USDA said 67percent of corn was in good-to-excellent condition, as of Sunday, down from 69percent a year earlier. Soybeans were rated 66percent good-to-excellent, compared with 67percent a year earlier, the agency said.
Farmers had finished planting 93percent of the corn crop and 87percent of soybeans, as of Sunday, ahead of the five-year averages of 92percent for corn and 80percent for soybeans, the agency said. In Ukraine, a major crop exporter, the combined grain and oilseed harvest is likely to rise to 83.6 million metric tons from 80 million tons in 2025 and its exportable surplus could total 50.8 million tons, Ukrainian grain traders union UGA said on Monday.
Wheat export prices held firm last week in key producer Russia, supported by a strong rouble and farmers’ reluctance to sell, although analysts expect export shipments to decline in June. Farmers in Brazil’s centre-south region harvested 2.4percent of their 2026 second corn crop, as of last Thursday, agribusiness consultancy AgRural said on Monday, up from 0.9percent in the previous week and above the 1.3percent reported a year earlier.