JAKARTA: Chicago corn futures fell for a sixth consecutive session on Tuesday to their lowest levels in six weeks, amid mixed reports about the US crop, while Brazil’s output was seen lower than previous estimate.
Wheat slid for a fifth session despite concerns of supply constraint in Russia.
Soybean inched higher after a five-session slide amid expectations of lower harvests in Brazil and the European Union.
“Better-than-expected corn conditions, and rapid seeding progress had all led to a fall in pricing,” said Andrew Whitelaw at agricultural consultants Episode 3 in Canberra.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) rated 75% of the US corn crop as good-to-excellent in its first condition ratings for the 2024 crop, up from 64% a year earlier.
Meanwhile, US Crop Watch producers rated their corn health below that of recent years due to wet conditions during and after planting, though soybeans are doing relatively better.
The most-active corn contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) fell 0.39% to $4.41-3/4 a bushel as of 0251 GMT, hitting its lowest since April 22.
Brazil’s second-corn harvest for the 2024 cycle had reached 4.7% of the planted area in the key center-south region as of Thursday, agribusiness consultancy AgRural said, up 2.7 percentage points from the previous week.
Brazil’s total corn crop estimate was reduced to 121.75 million tons from 125.6 million tons, consultancy StoneX said, which also lowered its soybean crop outlook to 149 million tons from 150.8 million tons.
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Strategie Grains slightly cut its EU soybean output projection to 3.06 million tons from 3.11 million earlier, but still up about 5% from last year’s 2.9 million tons.
Soybeans rose 0.13% to $11.86-1/4 a bushel after a five-day slide.
Meanwhile, wheat slid 0.11% to $6.72 a bushel, reversing gains earlier in the session.
“In the absence of further bullish news, we expect that the wheat market will trade in a relatively tight range, with a downward bias,” Whitelaw added.
Grains prices are expected to stay slightly bearish to neutral, as the market has been overbought, a Vietnam-based trader said.
The Australian government said the country would harvest around 700,000 metric tons more wheat than it previously thought but slashed its forecast for canola production after some areas suffered long periods of low rainfall.
Russia may declare a nationwide emergency by the end of this week due to frosts that have damaged crops ranging from grains to apples, to pave the way for insurance claims, Agriculture Minister Oksana Lut was quoted as saying.
Russian wheat export prices rose again last week as harvest expectations continued to deteriorate, analysts said, while also noting high volatility and reduced demand.
Egypt’s state grains buyer the General Authority for Supply Commodities is seeking wheat in an international tender (FOB) for shipment between July 5-15 and/or July 15 -25.
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