Monday, 03 August 2015 23:10
PARIS/SINGAPORE: Chicago corn and soybean futures slid for a second straight session on Monday as favourable weather in the US Midwest eased crop concerns, while fresh worries about flagging Chinese growth led to a broad retreat in commodity markets.
Wheat lost ground to touch a new six-week low as the prospect of another season of ample global production weighed on prices.
Chicago Board Of Trade August soybeans slid 0.5 percent to $ 9.75-3/4 a bushel by 1140 GMT, while September corn lost 1.5 percent to $ 3.65-1/2 a bushel.
September wheat slid 1.1 percent to $ 4.93-3/4 a bushel, after earlier hitting its lowest since June 22 at $ 4.92-3/4.
In Europe, December milling wheat on Euronext also touched its lowest since June 22 at 182.00 euros a tonne as the market felt additional pressure from an advancing French harvest.
After torrential rain earlier in the season had raised the risk that plants would be damaged and some soybean plantings might be abandoned, conditions last month improved and the weather outlook for early August was also moderate.
“Everybody was worried about too much rainfall but overall the weather has been largely favourable,” said Phin Ziebell, an agribusiness economist at National Australia Bank.
“The US corn crop is expected to be very good and soybeans should do all right, too.”
Improving US corn crop conditions have tempered concerns about drought damage in the European Union, where the EU’s executive cut by almost 3 million tonnes its monthly forecast for the corn harvest.
The soybean market has also been dented by news on Friday that Chinese buyers had cancelled a deal to buy 200,000 tonnes of US soybeans.
Worries about a slowing Chinese economy, further suggested by weak factory data on Monday, led to broad weakness in commodity markets, including six-month lows for crude oil.
Wheat is being weighed down by tepid demand for US shipments amid plentiful global supplies and cheaper offers from competitors in Europe and the Black Sea region.
Russia’s agriculture minister said the country could harvest 101.5 million tonnes of grain this year if weather is favourable, compared with a previous forecast for at least 100 million tonnes.
Ukraine expects its grain exports to rise this season to 36 million tonnes, its agriculture minister said.
In the United States, crop scouts on the US Wheat Quality Council’s annual three-day tour of North Dakota and adjacent states on Thursday gave their highest-ever forecast for spring wheat yield potential.
