CANBERRA: Chicago soybean and corn futures edged lower on Friday, but were headed for weekly gains of around 4% after forecasts for hot, dry conditions in the central United States led to concerns that US harvests may be smaller than expected.

China June soy imports from Brazil rise 2%

Wheat futures fell and were down 1% from last Friday’s close, with the market well-supplied by harvests in the northern hemisphere.

Fundamentals

• The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was down 0.2% at $10.77 a bushel, as of 0044 GMT, with CBOT corn slipping 0.1% to $4.20-1/4 a bushel and wheat down 0.1% at $5.37-1/4 a bushel.

• All three are near their lowest levels since 2020 due to expectations of plentiful supply and the accumulation of large bearish bets by speculators.

• Hot, dry weather forecast for the US Midwest lifted corn and soybeans, with up to 20% of the US corn crop likely to be stressed in the next two weeks, according to Commodity Weather Group.

• Solid US export sales also supported prices.

• Weekly US soybean export sales were 829,700 metric tons for 2024-25, at the upper-end of analyst estimates, and weekly corn export sales of 745,200 tons for 2024-25 exceeded analyst estimates.

• The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) also on Thursday reported the sale of 264,000 metric tons of US soybeans to unknown buyers for 2024-25.

• In wheat, favourable US and Russian harvest prospects have offset an expected drop in western European production.

• Scouts on an annual North Dakota crop tour on Thursday projected that hard red spring wheat yields in the top-producing state will average 54.5 bushels per acre, the highest according to records going back to 1992.

• US wheat exports were sluggish, meanwhile, with sales for the week ended July 18 at 309,300 metric tons near the low-end of trade expectations.

• Commodity funds on Thursday were net buyers of CBOT corn and soybeans and net sellers of wheat, traders said.