U.S. grains: Corn, soybeans fall as rain expected to help U.S. crops

Chicago | Reuters—Chicago corn and soybean futures fell on Monday on forecasts for crop-friendly rain in U.S. grain belts this week.

Wheat also fell as Russian farmers began increasing their wheat sales after a slow start, but received support from an agreement by Bangladesh to buy U.S. wheat, according to analysts.

Chicago Board of Trade most active corn Cv1 finished down 5-1/2 cents at $4.22-1/4 a bushel. Soybeans Sv1 were down 9-3/4 cents at $10.26 a bushel, while wheat Wv1 was down 4 cents at $5.42-1/4 a bushel.

Chicago corn futures rose on Friday on worries that excessive heat may threaten developing crops, but more showers are forecast in U.S. grain belts this week, said Randy Place, analyst at the Hightower Report.

“This morning models are not showing the extreme heat and the northern half of the Midwest still has precipitation chances over the next 10 days,” Place said.

Soybeans also took a dive as traders continued to wait with concern for trade talks with China to advance. China is the world’s largest importer of soybeans.

“The August 1 tariff deadline could be adding to the negative undertone as there have been only a handful of countries that have struck deals with the U.S.,” said Terry Reilly, senior agricultural strategist at Marex.

In wheat, said Place, some support came from an announcement that Bangladesh agreed to buy 700,000 tons of U.S. wheat annually for the next five years.

Smaller-than-expected Russian exports, despite the arrival of the new crop, also kept a floor under wheat.

But the first grain from Russia’s new crop has arrived on the market, traders and analysts said on Monday, with a good harvest in Stavropol initially reported.

But showers are expected to aid Northern Plains and Canadian Prairies spring wheat in the coming days, according to Commodity Weather Group.

—Additional reporting by Michael Hogan in Hamburg and Peter Hobson in Canberra