Spot soyabean futures rose for a third straight day on Wednesday, supported by export demand for US supplies and worries about dry weather in the US Midwest threatening production prospects. "We are competitive on the world stage. That's why we are concerned about these (US soyabean) stocks as South America's crop continues to be downgraded," said Paul Georgy, analyst with Allendale Inc. "It's really all about demand."
In corn, most-active December futures fell, setting back on profit-taking after an 11 percent rally in the previous two sessions. Signs of softening demand from ethanol producers and some forecasts for improved weather added pressure. The US Energy Information Administration said US ethanol production fell by 20,000 barrels per day in the latest week, to 900,000 barrels per day, while ethanol stocks rose to 21.19 million barrels, up 519,000.
A second ethanol producer temporarily shut a Nebraska plant on Tuesday as diminishing corn supplies and lacklustre gasoline demand hurt profit margins. "The news with the ethanol plants closing, and the weather forecast putting a little more rain in - a little more rain won't do much, but it does have influence on the trade - some of those things are weighing on us," Georgy said.
At the Chicago Board of Trade as of 10:20 am CDT (1520 GMT), CBOT December corn was down 9 cents at $5.54-1/2 per bushel, while spot July was up 1-1/2 cents at $6.14. July soyabeans were up 3 cents at $14.36-3/4 per bushel while new-crop November was up 2-1/2 cents at $13.87.
CBOT July wheat was little changed, down 1 cent at $6.48-1/2 per bushel. Worries about corn and soya yield prospects in the US crop belt underpinned the markets. Corn soared earlier this week as traders became increasingly concerned about hot, dry weather in the grain belt.