(Reuters) – U.S. corn futures fell for the third consecutive session on Monday to hit a near two-week low on concerns that China could reject further cargoes of U.S. corn.
Wheat also fell for the third straight session, while soybeans edged lower, giving back some of the gains from the previous session.
Chicago Board of Trade March corn fell 0.4 percent to $4.24 a bushel, just above the session low of $4.23-1/4 a bushel, the lowest since December 3. Corn is down 3.5 percent in the last three sessions.
“The same issue is pressuring the U.S. corn market and that is the fear that China would continue rejecting U.S. cargoes of corn after the discovery of an unapproved genetically modified strain,” said Vanessa Tan, investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.
“The strict checks that China will implement on incoming U.S. cargoes of corn could result in further rejections or discourage U.S. corn imports.”
China has already rejected three cargoes of U.S. corn because of an unapproved GMO variety and now U.S. exporters are concerned some shipments of dried distillers’ grains, a corn byproduct, may be rejected for the same reason, trade sources said.
China’s strict checks for an unapproved strain of GMO corn in cargoes from the United States are likely to continue until early next year as Beijing seeks to curb cheap imports and support domestic corn prices, industry sources said on Friday.
Adding to pressure on corn is the proposal to abolish the U.S. ethanol mandate, analysts said.
March wheat fell to a contract all-time low of $6.25-3/4 a bushel. Wheat was down 0.4 percent at $6.26 a bushel by 0314 GMT.
Analysts said the near-record global stocks is continuing to weigh on prices. The U.S. Department of Agriculture last week raised its outlook for global wheat inventories by 4.3 million tonnes to 182.78 million, above market expectations of 179.11 million tonnes.
January soybeans fell 0.1 percent to $13.25-3/4 a bushel, having closed up 0.3 percent on Friday.
