(Reuters) – Chicago corn and soybeans fell on Wednesday, with corn down for a fourth straight session as record U.S. crops look set to flood the market.
Wheat dropped for a third session, tracking losses in soybeans and corn, although the fall was limited by cold weather threatening U.S. wheat plants.
“Corn and soybeans are being weakened today as the market is adjusting its focus back to the huge corn and soybean harvests which are being gathered in the United States and which will provide good global supplies,” said Frank Rijkers, agrifood economist at ABN AMRO Bank.
“Wheat is being pulled down by the weakness in corn and soybeans. I think there are also signs some investors are ending their recent interest in soybeans and soymeal and are moving to other commodities.”
Chicago Board of Trade December corn fell 0.9 percent to $3.68-1/2 a bushel at 1135 GMT, its lowest since Nov. 11. January soybeans fell 0.9 percent to $10.13-3/4 after touching $10.12-1/2, their lowest since Nov. 6.
December Wheat fell 1.1 percent to $5.43 a bushel.
The U.S. corn harvest is 89 percent complete and the U.S. soybean harvest 94 percent finished, with cuttings of each crop mostly on pace with recent years after a slow start, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Monday.
Record export demand for soybeans and soymeal, and strong domestic appetite for corn from ethanol producers limited price declines, while bitter cold in the United States threatened emerging wheat plants.
In wheat growing regions in the U.S. Plains, colder than normal conditions could persist for the next 10 days before normal temperatures return, the Commodity Weather Group said.
More competition for U.S. wheat in its home market looms as France is set for its first large shipment of wheat to the United States in 12 years as the European Union’s top grain producer tries to clear large stocks of lower quality material from a rain hit harvest.
