U.S. Grains: Soybeans ease on South American rain outlook; grain higher

Chicago | Reuters — Soybean futures eased on Monday on forecasts for rain in dry areas of top exporter Brazil and Argentina and on rising United States supplies as clear Midwest weather boosted harvesting.

Corn futures edged higher on solid exports, spillover support from a rising crude oil market and strength in wheat, which advanced on global weather worries and continued hostilities in the Black Sea breadbasket region.

Recent strengthening of the U.S. dollar created headwinds for grains, however, as a firming greenback makes dollar-denominated goods costlier for those holding other currencies.

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Grain traders are also squaring positions ahead of a monthly U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) supply-and-demand report due on Friday.

“We’re biding time ahead of the crop report and we are waiting to see if we are really in a pattern change in South American weather,” said Don Roose, president of U.S. Commodities.

“Brazil’s been dry seasonally. But it feels like the rainy season is trying to kick in,” he said.

Chicago Board of Trade November soybeans ended down 3-3/4 cents at $10.34 a bushel, while December corn added 1-1/4 cents to $4.26 a bushel.

Both markets remain anchored by rising supplies from an ongoing harvest of what is expected to be a record-yielding crop.

Analysts polled by Reuters expect 44 per cent of the U.S. soy crop and 34 per cent of corn to have been harvested as of Sunday, while crop ratings were seen remaining strong.

Wheat futures climbed on worries about dry conditions in several key production areas, including the southern U.S. Plains farm belt and the Black Sea region.

Corn and wheat drew support from concerns about Black Sea supply disruptions after a grain vessel was hit by a Russian missile.

Low Russian wheat prices and the firm dollar remained headwinds for U.S. exports that have struggled to compete with cheaper grain from other suppliers.

CBOT December wheat rose 2-3/4 cents to $5.92-1/2 a bushel.

Additional reporting for Reuters by Michael Hogan in Hamburg and Naveen Thukral in Singapore