Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures declined about one per cent on Monday on profit-taking and pressure from beneficial rains over the last few days in South American crop areas, offsetting a weather premium that had been building for the oilseed crop.
Corn and wheat futures also fell.
Benchmark January soybeans on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) settled down 12-1/4 cents at $13.07-1/4 per bushel, turning lower after a climb to $13.31-1/4, the contract’s highest since Oct. 20 (all figures US$).
CBOT December corn dropped 2-1/2 cents to $4.78-1/4 a bushel. December wheat fell 9-1/2 cents to $5.66 a bushel.
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Declines in the soy complex set the tone as rains in Brazil and Argentina eased worries about global supplies.
“There’s no need for concern right now. The rains over the weekend, especially central Brazil, were pretty good,” Daniels Trading commodities broker Craig Turner said.
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As of Thursday, soybean planting in Brazil was 40 per cent complete, agribusiness consultancy AgRural said.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported export inspections of U.S. soybeans in the latest week at 1,890,227 metric tonnes, in line with trade expectations for 1,650,000 to 2,500,000 tonnes. The inspections figure was slightly low, Turner said, but still above the pace needed to meet USDA’s soybean export forecast.
Soymeal futures retreated as brokers took profits after the most-active December contract set a life-of-contract high on Friday at $448.40 per short ton. The contract settled down $15.90 on Monday at $426.50.
“When you have a big market that runs up like that, you’re going have pretty big corrections too,” Turner said.
After the CBOT close, USDA said the U.S. soybean harvest was 85 per cent complete and the corn harvest was 71 per cent complete, both ahead of their five-year averages. USDA rated 47 per cent of the U.S. winter wheat crop in good to excellent condition, in line with trade expectations and up from 28 per cent a year ago.
CBOT wheat fell 1.65 per cent as grain shipments from Ukrainian Black Sea ports resumed, easing concerns that Ukrainian exports could be stifled further.
The success of Ukraine’s new Black Sea export corridor has led to a sharp increase in the number of rail wagons heading to Odesa ports, a senior railways official said on Monday.
— Reporting for Reuters by Brendan O’Brien and Julie Ingwersen in Chicago; additional reporting by Peter Hobson in Canberra and Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris.
