PARIS/CANBERRA: Chicago soybean futures were little changed on Thursday after hitting a fresh four-year low, while wheat fell to a one-month low as a strong dollar added to concerns about competition from other exporting zones.
Corn edged down to its lowest in over a week, tracking weakness in soy and wheat.
The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 0.08% at $9.52-1/2 a bushel at 1223 GMT after falling to $9.45-1/4, its weakest level since early September 2020.
Soybeans have dropped this week under pressure from growing expectations of a bumper harvest in Brazil, as well as a slide in soyoil prices amid doubts over US and Indonesian biofuel policy seen as crucial for vegetable oil demand.
Another headwind developed on Wednesday when the US dollar index shot to a two-year peak after the Federal Reserve signalled a slower pace of rate cuts in 2025.
“CBOT prices appear to be under further pressure this morning due to a strengthening dollar,” commodity data platform CM Navigator said referring to US grains.
A stronger dollar makes US crops less competitive overseas against other crop exporters such as Brazil and Russia. The dollar edged down on Thursday but held on to most of its gains from Wednesday.
Soybean production expectations in Brazil have risen following regular rainfall. This week AgRural predicted a record 2024-25 crop of 171.5 million metric tons and another consultancy, Patria Agronegocios, forecast a 170.41 million ton harvest.
“The overbearingly large South American crop is pressuring soybeans,” said Commonwealth Bank analyst Dennis Voznesenski.
CBOT corn was down 0.2% at $4.36-1/4 a bushel. Wheat fell 1.7% to $5.32-1/4 a bushel, near an earlier one-month low of $5.31-1/2.
Signs of ongoing competition from Black Sea origins in import tenders, along with large crops being harvested in Argentina and Australia, have tempered concerns about dwindling supply of Russian wheat.
Grain markets will get a fresh indication on demand from weekly US export sales data later on Thursday.
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