GRAINS-Soybean Prices Fall for 3rd Day as Argentina Crop Concerns Ease

(Reuters) – Chicago soybeans slid for a third session on Monday, with forecasts of dry weather in Argentina’s flooded crop areas easing concerns over yield losses.

Corn was trading near Friday’s six-month high on strong demand, while wheat edged up as short-covering by investors underpinned prices.

The Chicago Board of Trade most-active soybean contract had declined 0.5 percent to $10.62-1/4 a bushel by 0317 GMT.

Corn dipped 0.07 percent to $3.69-1/2 a bushel, having gained 1 percent in the previous session when prices hit their strongest since July at 3.70 a bushel. Wheat added 0.1 percent to $4.28-3/4 a bushel.

“Investors have begun to book profits as weather worries recede somewhat,” said Tobin Gorey, director of agricultural strategy at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

“Argentina is expected to experience hot and dry conditions this week. That pattern should allow for flooded regions to dry down more quickly.”

The Rosario grains exchange on Thursday cut its forecast for the 2016-17 Argentine soybean crop to 52.9 million tonnes from 54.4 million tonnes previously due to bad weather.

Heavy rains since Tuesday in Brazil’s top soybean producing state of Mato Grosso are impacting harvesting in the region and could hurt the quality of the crop, agronomists said on Friday.

For corn, support is stemming from strong U.S. weekly export sales.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s weekly export sales report put corn sales at nearly 1.4 million tonnes, topping a range of trade expectations.

The USDA also said on Friday that private exporters in the last day sold 126,312 tonnes of U.S. corn to unknown destinations.

Commodity funds were net buyers of CBOT corn and wheat futures on Friday, traders said. Trader estimates of net fund buying in corn ranged from 8,000 to 18,000 contracts.