A turn to drier harvest weather in much of the US Midwest weighed on corn prices on Monday, while soyabeans rose for a third straight session. Chicago wheat gained modestly, held in check by corn's slide and an ongoing disruption in Egyptian wheat imports.
Drier weather in southern and eastern areas of the Midwest should help crops dry this week and allow for early harvesting, according to MDA Weather Services. Rainy weather last week sparked a rally in corn and soya. Chicago Board of Trade most active December corn dropped 1-3/4 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $3.35-1/4 a bushel at 12:17 p.m. CDT (1717 GMT) after reaching a near one-week high of $3.40 early in the session.
Corn sagged last week following monthly USDA crop forecasts that confirmed the prospect of a huge harvest, before recovering at the end of the week. Chicago November soyabean contract climbed 4-1/2 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $9.70-1/2 a bushel after hitting a one-week high of $9.81-1/4.
Spillover strength from Malaysian palm oil, a rival oilseed that rose on Monday on expectations of tight stocks, lifted soyabeans, Huckabay said. The US Department of Agriculture on Monday reported export inspections of 755,120 tonnes of soyabeans, less than the 1 million to 1.3 million tonnes expected. Weekly crop progress data to be released by the US Department of Agriculture after the market close will give an indication of rain disruption to harvesting. The ratings will likely show no change in weekly condition ratings for corn and soyabeans, according to a Reuters poll. Chicago December wheat edged up 1-1/4 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $4.04-1/2 a bushel.