SINGAPORE: Chicago soybeans edged lower on Tuesday, surrendering some of the previous session’s gains that drove prices to the highest in seven weeks on concerns over U.S. yields and Brazilian weather.
Wheat and corn prices eased after closing higher on Monday.
“There is some weather concerns in Brazil but it might be too early as much of the planting is in October,” said one oilseed trader in Singapore.
The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) fell 0.5% to $10.33-3/4 a bushel, as of 0304 GMT, after climbing on Monday to $10.42 a bushel - the highest since Aug. 5.
Wheat lost 0.6% to $5.79 a bushel and corn dipped 0.4% to $4.12 a bushel.
The soybean market rallied about 2.7% on Monday on worries over crop weather in the world’s top supplier Brazil and yields from harvest in the second-largest exporter U.S.
With the U.S. harvest underway, market players await more harvested yield data to determine whether a hot and dry finish to the Midwest growing season impacted yields.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) kept its national soybean yield estimate unchanged this month at a record 53.2 bushels per acre.
In Brazil, dry weather is delaying the start of soybean seeding. Planting was 0.9% complete, below last year’s 1.9%, by last Thursday, consultancy AgRural said.
The USDA’s weekly crop progress report showed the U.S. corn harvest was 14% complete, missing analysts’ expectations but beating the five-year average of 11%.
European trade association Coceral has cut its estimate of this year’s grain crop in the European Union and Britain.
Commodity funds were net buyers of CBOT corn, soybean, soymeal, wheat and soyoil futures contracts on Monday, traders said.
They hold a sizable net short position in soybean and corn futures, leaving markets vulnerable to short-covering.