US soyabean futures fell Thursday on worries about global trade tensions, analysts said, while wheat and corn firmed on bargain-buying and fears of tightening global supplies. As of 12:23 p.m. CDT (1723 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade July soyabeans were down 3-1/2 cents at $10.19-1/2 per bushel. July wheat was up 4-1/2 cents at $5.26-1/2 a bushel and July corn was up 1-1/2 cents at $3.95.
Soyabean futures turned lower after the United States said it would impose tariffs on aluminium and steel imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union, reigniting fears of a global trade war.
The move came days ahead of a visit by US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to China, the world's biggest soya importer. Ross is expected to try to get China to agree to firm numbers to buy more US goods during a June 2-4 visit to the Chinese capital.
The CBOT July soyabean contract at times dipped below its 200-day moving average near $10.17 as traders adjusted positions on the last day of the month. The contract was poised to fall about 29 cents, or 2.7 percent, for May.
Corn clung to modest gains despite the trade tensions with Mexico, a top buyer of US corn. Mexico responded to US steel and aluminium tariffs by imposing wide-ranging "equivalent" measures on farm and industrial products, including pork, apples, grapes and cheeses.
Corn futures found support from bargain buying a day after the July contract hit its lowest level in a month, and uncertainty about US crop weather after an unusually warm May.
Wheat firmed, with the CBOT July contract rebounding from a one-week low of $5.15-1/4 a bushel on technical buying and worries about dryness in the Black Sea region, including Russia and Ukraine.
Russia is expected to reduce its 2018 crop of winter wheat and rye by around 10 percent from a year ago due to dry weather, a state weather forecaster said.