(Reuters) – Chicago soybeans rose for a fourth consecutive session on Wednesday, with prices underpinned by strong demand and concerns over excessive wet weather delaying the U.S. harvest.
Corn prices remain under pressure as farmers start gathering a record-sized U.S. crop, while wheat ticked up after closing marginally lower on Tuesday.
The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade had risen 0.1 percent to $9.61 a bushel by 0306 GMT, having firmed 0.8 percent on Tuesday when it hit the highest since Aug. 30 at $9.64 a bushel.
Corn was unchanged at $3.28-1/2 a bushel, after dropping to multi-year lows last week and wheat gained 0.2 percent to $3.99-1/4 a bushel.
“The U.S. Midwest is likely to receive more rain this week than had previously been forecast,” said Tobin Gorey, director of agricultural strategy, Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
“While meteorologists have downplayed the impact on crops, plenty of market chatter about delays to maturation and harvesting is doing the rounds.”
Soybean prices drew support from a USDA report showing export inspections of U.S. soybeans in the latest week at 1,232,739 tonnes, above a range of trade expectations for 700,000 to 950,000 tonnes.
Gains in soybeans are being capped by the healthy condition of the U.S. crop so far this season. The U.S. Department of Agriculture rated the soybean crop as 73 percent good-to-excellent, unchanged from last week. Analysts had expected a slight decline in ratings.
The USDA rated 74 percent of the U.S. corn crop in good-to-excellent condition, in line with trade expectations and down from 75 percent the previous week.
The government has not yet issued a national figure for corn harvest progress, but state reports pegged the harvest as 1-percent complete in Illinois and 8-percent complete in Missouri.
Commodity funds were net buyers of CBOT soybean futures on Tuesday and small net sellers of corn and wheat.
Meanwhile, Canada’s wheat stockpile shrank to its smallest mid-summer level on record, a Reuters trade survey estimated ahead of a government crop report.
