* Corn retreats on forecast of record crop
* New-crop soybeans hit contract low, wheat falls (Updates with U.S. trading, analyst’s comment; changes byline, dateline from HAMBURG/SINGAPORE)
By Rod Nickel
Aug 25 (Reuters) – Chicago corn futures fell on Monday after two straight days of gains while soybeans slid to a contract low on forecasts of record crops in the United States.
Wheat also weakened as the focus returned to large global crops.
Recent rain in the U.S. Corn Belt was helpful for the corn crop, which was already expected to be the biggest-ever, said Karl Setzer, market analyst at Max-Yield Co-op in West Bend, Iowa.
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“The crops that are coming on are looking pretty good across the United States (and) one of the big things is funds are holding long positions,” Setzer said. “So we’re seeing some liquidation. There is just more sellers than buyers in the pit.”
Chicago Board of Trade new crop December corn fell 1.3 percent or 4-3/4 cents to $3.66-3/4 a bushel by 9:36 a.m. CDT (1436 GMT).
New crop November soybeans dropped 0.8 percent or 8-1/4 cents to $10.33-3/4 a bushel after hitting a contract low of $10.32-1/2 a bushel earlier in the session. December wheat fell 0.9 percent or 5-1/4 cents to $5.57 a bushel.
“We see lower prices for corn, soybeans and even wheat largely driven by fundamentals,” said Phin Ziebell, agribusiness economist at the National Australia Bank.
Farm advisory service Pro Farmer on Friday forecast the U.S. 2014 corn crop at a record 14.093 billion bushels after completing its crop tour of U.S. grain belts.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) last week estimated the crop at a record high of 14.032 billion bushels.
The results of the Pro Farmer crop tour are widely viewed as a landmark assessment of the U.S. corn crop every year as it makes field-level observations across the seven states that account for roughly 70 percent of U.S. production.
The Pro Farmer tour results fuelled expectations among analysts that the USDA will soon raise its U.S. corn yield forecast.
Corn and soybeans typically come under selling pressure around this time of year when traders determine the crop’s size has largely been determined, Setzer said.
“A lot of guys are (thinking) the crop is made, which isn’t 100 percent accurate,” he said. “There is still some time for yield loss. But yields are projected so high, especially in corn, that even if we take off a bushel or two, it really wouldn’t affect the balance sheets all that much.”
Pro Farmer forecast U.S. soybean production at 3.812 billion bushels, with an average yield of 45.35 bushels per acre. Last week, the USDA put the crop at an all-time high of 3.816 billion bushels, with a yield of 45.4 bushels per acre.
The market focus for wheat on Monday was moving from the conflict between Russia and Ukraine to the ample global wheat supply outlook, analysts said.
The market eyed, however, wet weather in the U.S. northern Plains that has threatened the quality of the spring wheat crop.
Prices at 9:36 a.m. CDT (1436 GMT)
LAST NET PCT YTD
CHG CHG CHG
CBOT corn 359.75 -5.75 -1.6% -14.8%
CBOT soy 1174.75 8.75 0.8% -10.5%
CBOT meal 430.10 -3.20 -0.7% -1.7%
CBOT soyoil 32.74 0.38 1.2% -15.7%
CBOT wheat 545.75 -6.25 -1.1% -9.8%
CBOT rice 1304.50 22.00 1.7% -15.9%
EU wheat 173.00 -0.75 -0.4% -17.2%
US crude 93.13 -0.52 -0.6% -5.4%
Dow Jones 17,093 92 0.5% 3.1%
Gold 1277.24 -3.59 -0.3% 6.0%
Euro/dollar 1.3202 -0.0040 -0.3% -3.3%
Dollar Index 82.4920 0.1560 0.2% 3.1%
Baltic Freight 1088 -8 -0.7% -52.2%
(Reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg, Manitoba; additional reporting by Michael
Hogan in Hamburg, Naveen Thukral in Singapore and Julie Ingwersen in Chicago;
Editing by Marguerita Choy)
