US MIDDAY: corn falls

US grains and soyabeans slipped on Tuesday, led by corn, as investors banked profits from recent gains. Chicago Board of Trade wheat and soyabeans have closed higher in three straight sessions, lifted by strong export prospects. Corn lost 1 percent as the previous day's short-covering by funds dried up, leaving few supportive factors to offset big global supplies of the golden grain, said Bill Gary, president of Commodity Information Systems in Oklahoma City.
"The world is just overrun with corn this year," he said. The US corn harvest was 95 percent complete by Sunday, the US Department of Agriculture said after markets closed on Monday, ahead of the five-year average of 91 percent for this point in the year and in line with trade expectations. US corn production will set a record high of 13.989 billion bushels this year, exceeding last year's drought-shortened harvest by 30 percent, the USDA said on November 8.
CBOT December corn futures shed 1 percent, or 4-1/4 cents, at $4.20-1/2 a bushel at 9:22 am CST (1522 GMT).
Chicago Board Of Trade January soyabeans dipped 0.7 percent, or 8-3/4 cents, to $13.20-1/2 a bushel, drifting off Monday's two-month high of $13.34-1/2.
On Tuesday, the USDA reported the sale of 360,000 tonnes of US soyabeans to unknown destinations for delivery during the 2013/14 marketing year. It also reported the cancellation of 300,000 tonnes of US soyabeans previously sold to China for 2013/14.
The cancellation may have whipped up doubts about the strength of Chinese demand, just as South American farmers plant their own soyabean crops that will compete with US supplies, Gary said.
"We believe that China has really overbought these beans," he said. China is the world's top soyabean importer.
The US Department of Agriculture said on Monday that exporters had sold 120,000 tonnes of US soyabeans to unknown destinations for 2014/15 delivery. That was on top of sales confirmed by the USDA on Friday of 115,000 tonnes of US soyabeans to China.
"Nearby beans have moved around 60 cents higher in the last three sessions, so it is not surprising to see some profit being taken," said Brett Cooper, senior markets manager at INTL FCStone Australia.
"The issue with soyabeans is that the US needs to control its export pace until the South American harvest."
CBOT December wheat was off 0.8 percent, or 5-1/2 cents, at $6.47 a bushel. The front month rose to a two-week high of $6.55 on Monday, helped by worries about harvests in Argentina and Australia that could bolster demand for US wheat.