(Reuters) – Chicago soybean futures fell for a third consecutive session on Monday to trade around their lowest level in three months due to expectations of record production in South America.
Corn eased, giving up some of Friday’s gains, which were driven by support from strong demand for U.S. supplies, while wheat edged higher on bargain buying after sliding for the past five weeks.
Chicago Board of Trade March soybeans fell 0.3 percent to $9.69-1/2 a bushel by 0251 GMT, not far from the previous session’s three-month low of $9.67-1/4 a bushel.
Wheat rose 0.4 percent to $5.32-1/4 a bushel after dropping 16 percent over the past five weeks and corn gave up 0.1 percent to $3.86-1/4 a bushel, having gained 0.8 percent on Friday.
“There is going to be record soybean production in Brazil and the focus of Chinese buying is shifting to South America,” said Kaname Gokon, general manager of research at brokerage Okato Shoji in Tokyo.
“There is some support for wheat but we are likely to see prices decline well into February because of weak fundamentals for U.S. wheat.”
Soybeans are weighed down as overseas buyers are turning their attention to South America, with farmers in Argentina and Brazil gearing up to harvest a record high crop.
The U.S. Agriculture Department said on Friday weekly U.S. export sales of corn were a robust 2.19 million tonnes, topping analysts’ forecasts, which ranged from 800,000 to 1 million tonnes. Wheat export sales totalled 564,400 tonnes, which also beat trade expectations.
The wheat market has faced pressure since the beginning of this year as cheaper supplies from Europe have won out in tenders from buyers in the Middle East and Africa.
Large speculators cut their net long position in CBOT corn futures in the week to Jan. 20, regulatory data released on Friday showed.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly commitments of traders report also showed that noncommercial traders, a category that includes hedge funds, increased their net short position in both CBOT wheat and soybeans.
