Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Board of Trade corn futures eased on Friday, a day after hitting a two-week high, as global crop weather looked mixed, analysts said.
Wheat and soybean futures also declined, with the strong dollar making U.S. farm products less attractive to importers.
Traders are monitoring U.S. weather as corn crops approach a key development period in July, while winter wheat harvesting is gathering pace.
Heat and dryness are expected across the southeastern and eastern corn belt over the next 15 days, increasing stress on corn and soybean crops, forecaster Maxar said. Weather models range in their predictions, though, said Don Roose, president of brokerage U.S. Commodities.
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“This week probably marked the start of the weather watch, and that can be both ways,” Roose said. “It’s a footrace to see what the weather looks like going forward.”
Most-active CBOT corn futures Cv1 settled down 8-1/2 cents at $4.50 per bushel but rose about 0.3 per cent for the week.
CBOT wheat Wv1 ended down 7-1/4 cents at $6.12-3/4 per bushel and lost about 2.4 per cent for the week. Soybeans Sv1 slid 9-3/4 cents to close at $11.79-3/4 a bushel but eked out slight weekly gains.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is slated to release weekly crop-progress data for U.S. corn and soybeans on Monday, and some analysts said they expect slight declines in good-excellent condition ratings. Traders are also waiting for USDA to issue U.S. plantings and quarterly stocks data on June 28.
In the Black Sea region, rain in dry parts of Russia and Ukraine provided some relief for corn crops, though benefits may be limited for wheat with harvesting looming, analysts said. USDA cut its wheat production estimates for top-exporter Russia and Ukraine this week following drought and frosts.
“We’re into a world weather market as we head to the end of the month acreage and stocks reports,” CHS Hedging broker Phyllis Nystrom said in a note.
– Additional reporting by Gus Trompiz and Mei Mei Chu in Beijing
