CANBERRA: Chicago wheat and corn futures steadied on Tuesday, after sharp declines in the previous session as data showed that the condition of US crops had improved, but soybeans slipped further to hit a four-year low.
The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 0.6% at $5.73-3/4 a bushel by 0422 GMT, with CBOT corn rising 0.1% to $4.08 a bushel and soybeans slipping 0.6% to $10.93-1/2 a bushel.
The three contracts fell by between 2.7% and 3.8% on Monday. Corn is within a whisker of its lowest since 2020 and wheat is around 50 cents above a four-year low hit in March.
“These are well supplied markets,” said Andrew Whitelaw at consultants Episode 3 in Canberra. Prices are so low that they should trigger some extra demand but a meaningful rebound will be difficult in the near term, he said. Speculators are betting heavily on further price falls.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Monday increased the percentage of corn, soy and wheat crops in good-to-excellent condition. Its ratings were better than analysts expected. The USDA rated 68% of corn and soy as good-to-excellent, the highest ratings for this time of year since 2020. It rated 75% of the wheat crop in good-to-excellent condition and said the wheat harvest - which has proceeded rapidly this year - was 63% complete. The US is the world’s top exporter of corn, the No. 2 soybean exporter and a major shipper of wheat.
Improving weather conditions in major wheat exporting countries are outweighing concerns over France’s harvest, which has been drenched with too much rain. Russian wheat export prices continued to fall last week as freshly cut crops hit the market following an early start to harvest. Russia is the world’s biggest wheat exporter. Fears over the size of its harvest have eased, with consultant Sovecon raising its estimate last week.
“Given the imminent harvest pressure, we maintain a neutral view on wheat prices in the near term,” analysts at Australia’s Rural Bank said in a note. “However, the long-term outlook is more positive due to the tightening global stock situation.”
In Brazil, farmers in the center-south region had harvested 63% of their second corn crop for the 2024 cycle as of last Thursday, consultants AgRural said.