(Reuters) – U.S. corn lost more ground on Wednesday, falling to a one-month low as fund selling and ample supplies drove prices lower, while wheat was little changed after sliding the last five sessions.
Soybeans edged higher after two days of decline that dragged the market to its lowest since early December on expectations of record global supplies.
Chicago Board Of Trade March corn fell around half a percent to $3.83-1/2 a bushel, its lowest since December 4.
March soybeans added 0.4 percent to $10.07-1/2 a bushel, having closed down 1.2 percent on Tuesday. Wheat rose a quarter of a cent to $5.48-1/4 a bushel, having lost more than 7 percent in the previous five sessions.
“Fundamentals are pretty well known, it is funds that are reducing their exposure to agricultural commodities,” said Ole Houe, analyst at Sydney-based brokerage IKON Commodities.
“It is purely money flow driven.”
Commodity funds sold a net 20,000 CBOT corn contracts on Tuesday, trade sources said. The funds also sold 6,000 contracts in soybeans and 3,000 in wheat.
The selloffs came after the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicted record-large global soy supplies and the largest domestic corn supply in history.
U.S. commercial handlers were holding the largest ever soybean supplies as of Dec. 1 following last year’s record harvest, while South American farmers were likely to gather their biggest soy crop in history, the USDA data showed.
The agency also said U.S. corn stocks were a record 11.203 billion bushels as of Dec. 1, despite surprisingly large cuts to its production and yield readings.
Russia has strengthened informal curbs on grain exports since the start of the year, further complicating trading before the introduction of an export tax, a Russian grain exporters’ lobby said on Tuesday in a letter to officials.
Russia, expected to be the world’s fourth-largest exporter this year, hopes export curbs will cool domestic grain prices and constrain food inflation as it tackles a financial crisis linked to plunging oil prices and Western sanctions.
The country’s move to restrict exports drove wheat to its highest in almost seven months in December, but prices have since slid as importers find cheaper alternative supplies.
