Chicago Board of Trade corn and soyabean futures rose on Monday morning, supported by concerns that rain will delay field work in key growing areas and may damage some recently seeded crops, traders said. Corn futures hit their highest level in three weeks.
Wheat futures closed lower after trading in positive territory for much of the day on profit taking. Concerns about excessive moisture in the central US Plains threatening crop yields in that area ahead of harvest continued to underpin prices. Persistent weakness of the dollar, which touched a six-month low against a basket of currencies, also underpinned US futures, although large US and global grain inventories continued to cap prices.
CBOT July corn futures ended up 2-1/2 cents at $3.75 a bushel. Corn reached its highest level since May 2. Soyabean futures for July delivery were 3-1/2 cents higher at $9.56-1/2 a bushel. Traders will get an indication of crop conditions, as well as of how much has been planted, on Monday afternoon when the US Department of Agriculture issues its weekly crop progress report. Analysts forecast the report would show corn planting at 85 percent complete and soyabean planting at 52 percent.
Corn in some areas of the Midwest will need reseeding because of flooding and poor crop emergence, and may have missed the optimal planting window, while late soyabean planting was being slowed by showers. Rainfall has also caused concern about winter wheat in the run-up to harvesting. CBOT July soft red winter wheat, which rose to its highest level since May 5 before retreating, ended down 1 cent at $4.34-1/4 a bushel.
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