Soybeans firm ahead of US acreage report; corn eases

SINGAPORE: Chicago soybean futures edged higher on Wednesday as traders adjusted positions ahead of a US government report on stock and acreage, while corn prices eased.

Wheat futures slid on expectations of higher output in Russia, the world's biggest exporter.

Dry weather forecasts in the US are underpinning prices.

"Weather forecasters, wrangling the weather models somewhat erratic projections of late, are evolving a clearer view of July weather," said Tobin Gorey, director of agricultural strategy at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

"The Midwest's north-west remains a region of concern as a dry starting point will likely see further crop stress evolve over a warm July."

The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) rose 0.4% to $13.17-1/4 a bushel by 0255 GMT. Wheat lost 0.2% at $6.44-3/4 a bushel and corn fell 0.8% to $5.44-1/4 a bushel.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Wednesday is expected to increase its estimate for corn plantings by about 3% from March, according to a Reuters poll of analysts. Soybean plantings are seen up 1.5% from March.

Fears remain about the risk from hot and dry weather as grain stocks are slim.

Analysts expect the USDA on Wednesday to report that corn and soybean inventories on June 1 were down 17% and 43%, respectively, from a year earlier.

The USDA, in a weekly report on Monday, rated 64% of the US corn crop in good-to-excellent condition, down 1 percentage point from the prior week and below analysts' expectations. Just 20% of spring wheat was rated good-to-excellent, below a week earlier and analysts' expectations.

Russian agriculture consultancy IKAR said on Tuesday it had raised its 2021 forecast for wheat production to 83.6 million tonnes from 82 million tonnes.

It also said it sees Russia's exports of wheat at 39 million tonnes this year.

Soft wheat exports from the European Union in the 2020/21 season that started last July had reached 25.38 million tonnes by June 27, data published by the European Commission showed on Tuesday.

That was down from 34.64 million tonnes cleared by the same week last season, the data showed.

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