GRAINS-Soybeans Hit 2-Week High, Corn Up For 3rd Day On U.S. Planting Delay

(Reuters) – Chicago soybean futures climbed to their highest in more than two weeks on Monday while corn rose for a third consecutive session as forecasts of heavy rains in parts of the U.S. Midwest are expected to delay planting.

Wheat was little changed in early Asian trade after closing 0.8 percent lower.

FUNDAMENTALS

Rain showers forecast across the western half of the U.S. grain belt this week are likely to stall farmers as they try to plant corn and soybeans, agricultural meteorologists said on Thursday.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said the U.S. corn crop was 3 percent seeded by April 9, matching the five-year average. But progress lagged in Illinois, the No. 2 U.S. corn producer, where the crop was only 1 percent seeded, compared with the state’s average of 5 percent. Planting had not begun by April 9 in Iowa, the top corn state.

Large speculators increased their net short position in CBOT corn futures in the week to April. 11, regulatory data released on Friday showed.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly commitments of traders report also showed that non-commercial traders, a category that includes hedge funds, increased their net short position in CBOT wheat and increased their net short position in soybeans.

On Thursday, funds were net buyers of CBOT corn and soybean futures contracts and net sellers in wheat, traders said.

The soybean market dropped to a one-year low last week with record South American supplies anchoring the market.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in a monthly report raised its projections of the Brazilian and Argentine soy harvests. Those figures followed a March 31 USDA report projecting a jump in U.S. soybean plantings to record levels this year.

MARKET NEWS

Shares dipped on Monday while the dollar and U.S. bond yields fell after soft U.S. economic data hurt investor sentiment already frayed by worries over North Korea and upcoming French elections.