Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybean and corn prices retreated on Tuesday following U.S. government data showing a smaller-than-expected decline in crop conditions than what many analysts had expected.
Wheat hit a two-week low as sluggish demand for U.S. supplies and competition from cheap Russian grain limited the upside in prices.
The most active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) lost 13-1/2 cents to $13.92-1/2 a bushel (all figures US$).
Corn dipped 9-1/2 cents to $4.86-3/4 a bushel, while wheat slid 16-1/2 cents to end at $6.00-1/2 a bushel, after reaching its lowest since Aug. 15.
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in a weekly crop progress report on Monday rated 58 per cent of the soybean crop as good to excellent, down a percentage point from 59 per cent last week. Thirteen analysts surveyed by Reuters had on average expected a three percentage point decline.
USDA rated 56 per cent of the corn crop as good to excellent, down two percentage points from 58 per cent a week ago versus a three-point decline predicted by analysts.
The muted decline has some crop watchers predicting further cuts in coming weeks, while others think the crop may have weathered the extreme heat better than expected.
“I think those crop conditions that we saw yesterday are going to create a very divisive line between your bulls and your bears,” said Ted Seifried, vice president of Zaner Group. “You can look at it either way.”
For spring wheat, USDA rated 37 per cent of the crop as good to excellent, down one percentage point and matching the average analyst estimate.
Soybean losses were pared after USDA confirmed private sales of 246,100 metric tonnes of U.S. new-crop soybeans and 105,000 tons of U.S. new-crop soymeal, all to unknown destinations.
Wheat fell despite supportive news from Statistics Canada, projecting Canada’s 2023 all-wheat crop at 29.472 million metric tonnes, down 14.2 per cent from the prior year and below an average of trade expectations for 30.4 million.
“The Stats Canada numbers were friendly,” said Ed Duggan, senior risk management specialist at Top Third Ag Marketing. “Wheat just can’t find anything to get excited about.”
Black Sea supplies continue weighing on U.S. wheat.
Ukrainian farmers are not expected to reduce the area of winter wheat they sow for the 2024 harvest despite higher logistics costs during wartime, a senior farming official told Reuters.
— Reporting for Reuters by Christopher Walljasper in Chicago; additional reporting by Naveen Thukral, Peter Hobson and Sybille de La Hamaide.
