SINGAPORE: US corn futures edged lower on Tuesday as traders locked in profits after a recent rally, following concerns over crop stress amid dry conditions in the US midwest crop belt.
Wheat dipped to snap a three-session winning streak, while soybeans edged higher.
The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 0.2% at $13.75-1/4 a bushel, as of 0408 GMT.
Wheat lost 0.5% to $6.30-3/4 a bushel, while corn gave up 0.3% to $6.15-1/2 a bushel, after rising to a nearly two-month high in the previous session.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) rated 61% of the US corn crop in good-to-excellent condition in its weekly crop progress report on Monday, down 3 percentage points from a week ago and below the average of estimates in a Reuters poll.
The USDA also lowered its US soybean crop rating by 3 percentage points to 59% good-to-excellent, below the average analyst estimate of 60%.
Like soybeans, corn conditions deteriorated in the good-to-excellent category, with current select states running significantly below the 10-year average, according to a note from commodities research firm Hightower.
Looking forward, the corn market should also see residual support from the stalemate in extending the Black Sea grain corridor and from pockets of dryness in Europe, the note added.
Brazilian farmers have harvested through last Thursday 2.2% of the area planted for their second corn crop in the center-south region, agribusiness consultancy AgRural said on Monday, up 0.8 percentage points from the previous week.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday he is concerned that Russia will on July 17 quit a deal allowing the safe wartime export of grain and fertilizers from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports.
Commodity funds were net buyers of Chicago Board of Trade corn, wheat and soymeal futures contracts on Monday and net sellers of CBOT soybean and soyoil futures, traders said.
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