Chicago | Reuters—Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) soybean and corn futures fell on Tuesday as traders assessed the impact of flooding and heat on crops in the central U.S.
Meanwhile, wheat fell under pressure from an advancing U.S. harvest and rain relief finally arriving in wheat producing areas of Russia and the Black Sea, analysts said.
More flooding hit parts of the U.S. Midwest on Tuesday after a weekend of thunderstorms caused excess water in some areas.
The market is weighing the impact of the floods against the moisture’s ability to mitigate the extreme heat seen over the last week, said Hightower Report analyst Randy Place.
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There were good gains for the Chicago soy complex during the week ended Feb. 4, due to positive news that Wednesday.
Flooding typically does not become bullish for grains markets until traders have had time to see what was lost, he added.
“There’s going to be a point where we’re going to say, OK how many acres are going to be ruined?” he said. “That can cause a rally later in the summer but you don’t always get it when the rains are falling.”
Traders are for now assuming moisture will be more beneficial than not and expectations of large ending stocks kept a lid on any potential corn and soybean rallies, he said.
The most-active soybean contract Sv1 settled down 1.7 per cent at $11.11-1/2 a bushel, bringing the benchmark November contract SX24 to lowest since August 2021. July Corn CN24 fell 1.85 per cent to $4.26.
Flooding has presented minor logistical issues for Archer-Daniels-Midland, but not impacted the efficiency of operations, a spokesperson said.
Wheat also dipped as the U.S. harvest has marched ahead showing good yields, said Place. Most-active wheat Wv1 fell 1.8 per cent to $5.60-1/2 a bushel.
Place added that prices were further pressured by production forecasts from Russian crop consultancies stabilizing with improving weather after weeks of droughts and frost.
—Additional reporting for Reuters by Peter Hobson and Sybille de La Hamaide
