(Reuters) – Chicago soybeans fell to a one-week low on Monday, dropping for a third straight session, while corn slipped as an active U.S. harvesting weekend boosted supply prospects.
Wheat eased for a third session as well with improved weather in Argentina and the United States weighing on the market which climbed to a four-month high last week.
The soybean harvest should be nearly 80 percent complete by Monday and corn should be up to 60 percent complete, traders said. Soybeans were 63 percent harvested as of Oct. 20 and corn was 39 percent harvested.
Chicago Board Of Trade front-month soybeans fell 0.4 percent to $12.94-1/4 a bushel by 0247 GMT, after touching $12.91-1/4, its lowest since Oct. 21, earlier in the session.
Spot-month wheat slid 0.3 percent to $6.88-1/2 a bushel while December corn lost 0.3 percent to $4.38-1/2 a bushel.
“Relatively strong U.S. soybean harvest progress is anchoring oilseed prices, despite continued robust global demand,” said Luke Mathews, a commodities strategist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, in a report.
“In addition, forecasts for favourable rainfall across Argentina this week should support improved conditions for soybean planting.”
Large speculators increased their net short position in CBOT corn futures in the week to Oct. 1, regulatory data showed.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly commitments of traders report also showed that noncommercial traders, a category that includes hedge funds, trimmed their net short position in CBOT wheat and cut their net long position in soybeans.
Investors in the agricultural markets are increasing their focus on harvest results instead of demand ahead of a monthly U.S. Department of Agriculture crop production report due on Nov. 8. The USDA had cancelled October’s data release due to a partial U.S. government shutdown.
The wheat market, which climbed to a four-month peak of $7.11-1/4 on Oct. 21, is facing pressure from improved weather in Argentina and the United States, analysts said.
Rains that fell on much of Argentina’s farm belt last week helped wheat and boosted the planting of the 2013/14 corn crop, following a dry winter, the agriculture ministry said on Friday.
Still, tightening supplies from the Black Sea region are providing a floor for prices.
Wheat exports from the Black Sea countries could be modest in November as Russian farmers withhold crop amid hopes for higher prices and as Kazakhstan needs more time to get a clear estimate of the quality of its harvest.
Exports have been curtailed by low stocks, government restocking and concerns over lack of high quality wheat.
