Grain trade choppy as US crop tour results are awaited

Chicago soybean and corn contracts were up and down Monday, as traders awaited results from this week's Pro Farmer crop tours in the U.S. Midwest.

Wheat futures dipped on technical selling despite a rise in export demand. The tour will measure corn yields in seven U.S. States and assess soybean production potential, following forecasts last week by the U.S. Agriculture Department of a record U.S. crop.

Corn futures were also affected by the expectation that the closely followed tour would show a large U.S. harvest.

Chicago Board of Trade's most active corn futures settled 1-1/4 cents above $4.06-1/2 a bushel. The most-active soybeans ended 1-1/4 cents higher at $10.41-1/4 per bushel.

Trade tensions between China and the United States continued, and corn and soy futures were under pressure. U.S. president Donald Trump asked China to quadruple their soybean purchases last week, but there was no news about progress in U.S. - China trade talks. Meanwhile, U.S. soybean producers are missing out on China's sales.

Wheat prices fell 3-3/4 cents to $5.02-3/4 a bushel.

Jack Scoville Vice president of Price Futures Group said, "I do not think wheat will go up or down very much." "We will keep an eye on the situation in the Black Sea but it is still unclear at the moment." Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president, said Monday that he is ready to do whatever it takes to end the conflict with Russia before he meets with Donald Trump in Washington. He could be pressured to accept favorable terms for Moscow. The European leaders are at the White House in preparation for the meeting.

Ukraine and Russia are the two largest grain exporters. Reporting by Heather Schlitz, Chicago; Additional reporting from Michael Hogan, Hamburg, and Ella Cao, Lewis Jackson, and Rod Nickel in Beijing; Editing and proofreading by Harikrishnan Nair and Christina Fincher; Rod Nickel, Harikrishnan Nair and Harikrishnan Nair

(source: Reuters)